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fco
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GUELPH RESIDENCE
V
/ Col). Christi Reflfia S.4.
Bibl. Phil.
TorontonMt
EXPLANATION OF THE SACRIFICE
AND OF THE
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
[All rights reserved.]
Here is the ground of all our hope. There is no hope of eternal
life hut in the Cross. " a Kcnipis.
in- Sun of Man i> litu>d up on the Cross, that whosoever believeth
in 11 mi may i,,,t perish, but may have life everlasting"-
S. JOHN iii 14, 15.
EXPLANATION
OF THE
SACRIFICE AND OF THE LITURGY
OF THE
MASS.
i -I
BY A PRIEST.
" The Mass being the chief act of divine worship,
" the Council of Trent enjoins all pastors to instruct
" their flocks in the nature of it, and in all that relates
" to it, that they may be assiduous in assisting thereat,
" and devout in reaping the fruits thereof." Sess. xxii.
cli. 8.
SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF ORPHANS.
Christ? R ecr ; ? Q ,
Bib/. PK;
LONDON :
THOMAS BICHABDSON AND SON;
DUBLIN AND DERBY.
LONDON : BURNS AND GATES E. J. FARRELL. DUBLIN : DUFFY.
NEW YORK : HENRY H. RICHARDSON" AND CO.
MDCCCLXX.
il obstat quo minus imprimatur.
TV. G. TODD, D.D.
IMPRIMATUR :
^ IIENEICUS EDUAEDUS,
AVcstmouastericnsis.
APPROBATION OF THE SECOND EDITION.
The Oratory, May 4th, 187(1.
My dear Mr.
I thank you for your very interesting book on the Ma^.
which came to me a day or two ago.
It is full of instruction as icdl as interest. I cannot doubt
it will have a good sale, and will satisfy the pious intentions,
and the anxiety and care, of which it is the fruit.
It is a great pleasure to me to find myself thus in your
remembrance, Give me your good prayers, and believe me
Sincerely yours in Xt.,
JOHN H. XKAVMAN.
APPROBATION OF THE FIRST EDITION.
Eev. dear Sir,
Your discourses on the Mass state the doctrine of the
Catholic Church on that head in most clear and intelligible
terms, and enforce it with great zeal and earnestness. I trust
that they will induce the faithful to be assiduous in assisting at
the Holy Sacrifice, and to rejoice in the many graces which, by
their piety and devotion, they can secure through the efficacy
of the Adorable Sacrifice, in which, each day, the merits of the
Sacrifice of the Cross are applied to our souls.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Q-!l THOMAS GRANT.
St. George s, Jan. 16th, 18G4.
TESTIMONIALS.
Eev. dear Sir,
I have read your useful little book, and think it simply
and clearly written. I have no doubt but that it will be of
great service, especially to persons entering the Church.
ERRATA.
Pa^e 75, line 24, read " Moses, who by the command of God luul com
mitted the law to writing, ordered ;i sacriticc to be offered up; and
having read the words of the covenant in the h jiiring of the people
toi*k the blood of the victim/ &c.
Page 114, line 2, for "by Him and with Him," rend "by Christ an!
with Christ."
Page 189, lines 17 and 19, erase the word Again
,, 199, line I, for passin read passing
223, line 3, for intreat read entrea
276, line 15, read the order of nature was not observed, MUCO
man did not contribute to it.
APPROBATION OF THE FIRST EDITION.
Eev. dear Sir,
Your discourses on the Mass state the doctrine of the
Catholic Church on that head in most clear and intelligible
terms, and enforce it with great zeal and earnestness. I trust
that they will induce the faithful to be assiduous in assisting at
the Holy Sacrifice, and to rejoice in the many graces which, by
their piety and devotion, they can secure through the efficacy
of the Adorable Sacrifice, in which, each day, the merits of the
Sacrifice of the Cross are applied to our souls.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Sj THOMAS GRANT.
St. George s, Jan. 16th, 186-1.
TESTIMONIALS.
Rev. dear Sir,
I have read your useful little book, and think it simply
and clearly written. I have no doubt but that it will be of
great service, especially to persons entering the Church.
Believe me,
Yours faithfully in Christ,
H. E. MANNING.
Bayswatcr, August 29th, 1864.
My dear Rev. Sir,
I feel much the kindness you have done me in sending me
your volume. I set a great value on it as coming from so well-
read a theologian.
I am, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours in Christ,
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,
Of the Oratory.
The Oratory, Birmingham,
Sept. 19th, 1864.
Rev. dear Sir,
I beg to thank you for your kindness in sending me a copy
of your little work on the Holy Sacrifice. I have read it
through, and have been extremely struck with its similarity,
almost its identity, with a short course of instructions on the
same subject, which I delivered to our students in the autumn
of 1861, and again taught more in detail to our upper classes,
last year, and which a friend of mine has been delivering to
another congregation this Lent. I think we must have been
reading the same books before we wrote our respective instruc
tions, among others, Nicholas Etudes Philosophiqv.es. My four
discourses contain all that I have read in yours, omitting the
first. I have, on the stocks, another series of lectures, dealing
at greater length on the subject of your sixth. Under these
circumstances, I need not say how glad I am to see them in
print.
I remain, Rev. dear Sir, with much respect,
Yours very truly in Christ,
J. SPENCER NORTHCOTE,
Principal of Oscott College.
Oscott College, Birmingham,
March 1st, 18(11.
Rev. dear Sir,
Your book on the Mass has, by a second and more careful
reading, in every respect immensely gained in my estimation.
I cannot help writing to you to pour out my earnest and sincere
admiration of its erudition, logic, and piety.
Yours, &c.,
DENIS FLORENCE MCCARTHY,
Co-editor of the Month.
Winsley Manor House,
Bradford-on-Avon, Somersetshire,
April 13 tli, 1SG1.
OPINION OF THE CATHOLIC PRESS.
"This little book, to our knowledge, is the only one in the
English language tJinf treats of the nature of the Sacrifice of
the Mnss. Other treatises explain the different parts of the
Liturgy of the Mass ; but not the nature of the Sacrifice thereof.
It is highly spoken of and recommended by bishops and theo
logians of the day. Written, as it is, in a plain, earnest, and
impressive style, it cannot fail to bo of great benefit to all who
read it in a proper spirit. The sublime nature of the Sacrifice
is forcibly dwelt upon in this eloquent work, which we sincerely
recommend to our renders." Tablet, April 13th, 18G4.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface : On the importance of being well instructed in the
Mass
Preamble
PAET I.
ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
CHAPTER I.
On Public Worship; its obligation, necessity, and advan
tages
CHAPTER IT.
Sacrifice in general ; its nature, origin, necessity, and per-
petuity
CHAPTER IIT.
On the nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass. The Sacrifice
of the Altar one and the same with the Sacrifice of
the Cross ; a continuation, a representation, and a
commemoration thereof
l._ The Sacrifice of the Mass is the continuation of the
Sacrifice of the Cross
CONTEXTS.
PAGE
2. The Mass is a real representation of the Passion and
Death of Christ ... ... ... (34
3- The Mass is a commemoration of the Sacrifice of the
Cross ; yet so as to be really that which is commemo-
rated 65
Prayer ... ... ... t 72
CHAPTER IY.
The Sacrifice of the Mass a true and proper Sacrifice . 73
CHAPTER Y, ,
On the fruits of the Mass ...
DCS Intentions dans lesquclles on doit dire ou entendre
la Sainte Mcsse ... ...
CHAPTER YI.
The excellence of the Sacrifice of the Mass 105
" ... 1 4ri
CHAPTER YTl .
On the Ceremonies, Language, Vestments, Incense, Lights,
&c. used in the Liturgy of the Mass . 145
On the Ceremonies of the Mass 14g
On the Language of the Liturgy -^7
On the use of particular Vestments or Eobes during the
152
On the use of Incense ... 1-0
On the use of Holy Water ... 1 55
On Altars
... Io7
On the Tapers which arc lit up during the Mass 153
CONTEXTS. XI
PAET II.
EXPLANATION OF THE LITURGY OF THE MASS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
On the importance of worthily assisting at the Mass ... 1G1
On the intentions and dispositions with which we ought
to assist at Mass in order to reap the fruits thereof 163
CHAPTER IT.
Explanation of the component parts of the Liturgy of the
Mass .. 166
ARTICLE I.
Preparation of the People,
The Penitential subdivision ... ... .,. ... 1G7
The Confiteor ... ... ... ... ... ... 170
The Instructive subdivision ... ... ... ... 178
The Introit ... ... ... ... ... ... 178
Kyrie Eleison ... ... ... ... ... ... 181
Gloria in excelsis Deo ... ... ... ... ... 184
Dominus Vobiscum ... ... ... ... ... 188
The Collect 192
The Epistle ... ... ... ... ... ... 195
The Gospel ... ... ... ... ... ... 198
The Creed ..201
CONTENTS.
ARTICLE II.
PAGE
Preparation of tlie Natter of the Sacrifice. ... 207
Offertory ... ... ... 2 Q8
Mixture of the Wine and Water 212
Continuation of the Offertory Simultaneous Oblation of the
Bread and Wine Suscipe sancta Trinitas ... ..216
Orate Fratres , 01 o
... *ilo
The Secret 221
The Preface ... ... 2 9>>
ARTICLE III.
Tic Crnion, ... ... _
First Prayer of the Canon To Idtur ...
Second Prayer of the Canon Memento of the Living
Infra actionem
... A.OO
Third Prayer of the Canon Communicantes ... ...237
Fourth Prayer of the Canon Hanc Igitur 240
Fifth Prayer of the Canon, which immediately precedes the
Consecration Quam Oblationom ... 244
The Consecration ... ... 217
First Prayer after the Elevation 254
Second Prayer after the Elevation ... ... _ 257
Third Prayer after tlio Elevation-Supplies Te Eo-amus " 258
Fourth Prayer after the Elevation-Memento for the D?ad 2GO
.fth Prayer after the Elevation, and tho last of the Canon
Nobis quoque peccatoribus 263
Conclusion of the Canon ... "266
On the Devotion with which we should assist at the Holy
Sacrifice %9
The R,al Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eu~haristic Sacri- "
3, proved from the Testimony of tho Holy Fathers
the Primitive Ages of Christianity 272
CONTENTS.
ARTICLE IV.
PAGE
The Communion, or fourth and last part of the Liturgy ... 279
Preparation for the Sacrificial Communion
The Lord s Prayer
The Pax Domini and the prayer Hoec commixtio, together
with the accompanying ceremony ... ... 284
The Agnus Dei
Three Prayers in immediate preparation for the Communion
of the priest :
First Prayer
Second Prayer
Third Prayer
Domine non sum Dignus
Communion of the Priest
Communion of the faithful no essential part of the Sacrifice 299
Communion of the faithful a Divine Precept ... 300
Daily Communion in the Primitive Church
Spiritual Communion
Dispositions for a Spiritual Communion ... 305
Thanksgiving after Communion ...
Anthem called the Communion ...
Post Communion
Ite, Missa est Depart, the Divine Service is now over ... 310
Placeat Obsequium
Last Blessing ...
Last Gospel
Summary or Resume
EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.
The first Engraving represents the Death of Jesus Christ,
which is to all mankind the source of all mercy, grace, and
salvation.
The Second Engraving represents Jesus Christ instituting the
Sacrifice of the Mass, in order to communicate to all the mem
bers of His Church the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross.
The third Engraving represents the Priest, as minister of
Christ, imparting to the members of the Church, by means of
the Mass, the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross.
ERRATUM.
At font of Engraving f;icin<j page 161, for C. Nice, Sess. 22, read
Con. Ti-id. Sess. zz, c. 2.
PREFACE.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING WELL
INSTRUCTED IN THE MASS.
" GOD," says Christ, " is a spirit, and they
who adore Him, must adore Him. in spirit and
truth." (S. John iv. 24.) Li spirit, that is,
with a knowledge of the nature of the worship we
render Him : in truth, that is, with all the sin
cerity of our hearts. But the Mass is the prin
cipal act of Divine worship ; we must therefore
understand it, and join with all our hearts and
souls in offering it up.
St. Peter warns all Christians to be ever ready
to give an account of their faith, and of the
motives of it. " Be ever ready," says he, " to
satisfy every one that asketh you the reason of
the hope that is in you." (1 Epist. iii. 15.) This
warning particularly regards the Sacrifice of the
Mass, which is a principal Christian mystery, nay,
an abridgment of all mysteries.
"Let your worship," says St. Paul, (Rom. xii.)
" be a reasonable one."" In order to this, we must
understand the nature of sacrifice in general, and
of the Sacrifice of the Mass in particular; we
12 PREFACE.
must know what are the intentions and disposi
tions necessary in order that the Mass may become
vailahle to us.
" This is," says Christ, "eternal life, that they
may know TJicc, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom Thou hast sent." (S. John xvii. 3.)
But Christ is not only our Redeemer and Media
tor, hut also our Sovereign High Priest and
Victim. For the sacrifice of Himself which He
offered up on Mount Calvary, did no more expire
by His death than did His Priesthood. The
whole victim was restored to Him at His resur
rection, and He carried it up into the sanctuary of
heaven, at His ascension, and with it He continu
ally pleads before the throne of His Father, for
the obtaining of mercy, grace, and salvation for us.
Before His departure from this world, He
ordained others, not as His successors, (for His
Priesthood is eternal,} but as His ministers, to
keep up this same sacrifice in His Name and in
His Person in His Church ; lie Himself invisibly
officiating as High Priest and Victim, both as
offerer and offering, and keeping up a continual
succession of them all days, even till the consum
mation of the world.
All our good is derived from the sacrifice of the
cross : it is the fountain of life, and the source
of all grace. " There is (says a Kenipis) no
"health of the soul, no hope of eternal life, but in
PREFACE. 3
" the cross of Jesus Christ. There is no justifica-
" tion nor salvation for us except through the
"merits of Christ s Passion and Death." (bk. ii.
12.) But the Mass is the principal channel for
conveying to our souls the merits of the Sacrifice
of the Cross. The death of Christ on the Cross
only made us capable of redemption, while the
Sacrifice of the Mass puts us in possession thereof.
In order therefore, to obtain a share in the merits
of Christ s Passion and Death, it is necessary to
be well instructed in the Mass.
It is only by means of the Mass that we arc
enabled adequately and worthily to render to God
the four great duties that we owe Him, of adora
tion, thanksgiving, atonement, and impetration,
But, in order to this, we must understand the
dignity and efficacy of the holy Sacrifice. lynoii
.nulla cupido.
Tepidity, routine, and negligence are the bane
of religion. "Cursed," says the Prophet Jere-
. mias, (xlviii. 10.) "is he that does the work of God
negligently." But the Mass is God s most excel-
; lent work, the worship which He has appointed to
be rendered to Himself alone, the only worship
, which is acceptable to Him : but in order to per
form it acceptably, a competent knowledge thereof
is indispensable.
Hence, he that has not this competent know
ledge, cannot be said to know his religion.
4 PREFACE.
Hence, in order to derive benefit from assisting
at the Mass, it is necessary to know what is then
taking place on the altar, and how to join in it in
spirit ; it is not enough to read from beginning
to end the prayers called Devotions for Mass, as
if they were a mere formulary of prayers.
Hence, there is in this matter, a degree of ignor
ance which is guilt, and which prevents those who
labour under it, from hearing Mass as they ought.
They must at least know what is the meaning of
the consecration and elevation ; when they take
place ; and what they themselves should then do.
They must know when the communion is, what
the Priest is then doing, and what they themselves
should then do.
Unless they know this, they are in culpable
ignorance of their religion, and incapable of ren
dering to God the supreme homage they owe Him.
Many persons there are who, though but im
perfectly instructed in the Mass, are nevertheless
punctual and devout in assisting thereat, and derive
-considerable benefit from it, and who, if fully
instructed in all that relates to it, would assist
at it, with a greater degree of respect, awe, and
devotion, and thence derive much greater benefit.
"Why are many Catholics so negligent and so
irreverent in assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, but
because they were not instructed in it in their
youth, or did not avail themselves of the opportuni-
PREFACE,
ties they had of obtaining a competent knowledge
of it? To such, might it not be said : the
worship you perform without understanding, that
I will endeavour to explain to you. (Acts xvii. 23.)
Were Christians nowadays as well instructed as
the primitive Christians were ; had they as lively a
faith in the sacred mysteries as they had, would
they not be most anxious to avail themselves of
this price of their ^Redemption ? Would they not
be urgent for the voice of that blood that speaketh
better things than the blood of Abel, to plead for
them with the Eternal Father ? (Heb. xii. 24.)
It would be deplorable that even one single
well disposed person should all his life be fre
quenting the holy sacrifice without knowing its
excellence and the fruits to be derived from it ;
or that any one should, through ignorance, have
neither respect nor confidence in it : yet are there
not many such ?
Where such ignorance prevails, it is difficult to
expect that religion can make much progress.
Is not therefore the Mass the anchor of our hope ?
Is it not then of primary importance that it should
be fully understood and appreciated by all ? How
ever necessary a knowledge of the Mass is, it is
not alone sufficient to make us duly appre
ciate it ; for its excellence is only perceptible
to the eyes of an enlightened faith : "the things
"that are of God," says St. Paul, "no one knows
6 PREFACE.
V but the Spirit of God." (1 Cor. ii.) "To the
"man, destitute of a lively faith, the things of God
" appear as foolishness ; he cannot understand
"them. But our Heavenly Father will un-
* doubtedly bestow His Holy Spirit on them that
" ask Him."" I am," says He, " He that teach-
" eth knowledge, and giveth a more clear under-
" standing to little ones (to the humble and clean
" of heart) than can be taught by men. I am He,
"that, in an instant, elevates an humble mind to
ft comprehend more reasons of eternal truth than
"can be acquired by many years study." (A
Kempis, book 3, ch. 43.)
We must therefore, fervently and perseveringly,
implore of God to enlighten our minds to com
prehend the dignity and efficacy of this august
Sacrifice, to set it before our mind s eye in its
proper light, and to make us believe in it with an
undoubted faith, which will inspire us with awe,
and render us diligent in reaping the fruits thereof.
For unless our minds are enlightened from above,
we shall not behold the Imisible present on our
altars, as if He were visible ; nor shall we be pene
trated with, that profound sense of the Divine
Presence, which made the Patriarch Jacob ex
claim : " The Lord is in this place, and I knew
"it not ! How awful is this place ! It is no other
"than the House of God, and the gate of Heaven."
(Genesis xxviii.)
PREAMBLE.
We are not to confound the Sacrifice of the
Mass with the Liturgy of the Mass. The Sacrifice
of the Mass was instituted by Jesus Christ per
sonally, (St. Matt. xxvi. 20, &c.): whereas the
Liturgy of the Mass was drawn up by the inspired
apostles immediately after Pentecost, in accordance
with the instructions they had received from their
Divine Master, especially during the forty days
He remained upon earth after His resurrection.
The Sacrifice consists of three parts : the Conse
cration, the essential Oblation, and the Commu
nion ; while the Liturgy has four parts the pre
paration of the people, the preparation of the
matter of the Sacrifice, the Canon, and the Com
munion.
Hence, this treatise consists of two parts : 1st.
On the Sacrifice of the Mass : 2nd. On the
Liturgy of the Mass.
EXPLANATION OF THE SACRIFICE,
AND OF THE
LITURGY, OP THE MASS.
FIRST PART.
ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
CHAPTER I.
ON PUBLIC WORSHIP ; ITS OBLIGATION, NECESSITY,
AND ADVANTAGES.
"When two or three are gathered together in My
name," says Christ, " there am I in the midst of them."
S. Matt, xviii. 20.
" How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts !
My soul longeth and faintetli for the courts of the Lord.
Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.
Better is one day in Thy courts, above thousands." Ps.
Ixxxiii.
"Let us provoke one another unto charity, not for
saking our assemblies, but comforting one another."
Heb. x. 24.
" Strive," writes St. Ignatius, martyr, to the Eplic-
sians, "to hold assemblies together to pay to God the
homage of thanksgiving and praise due to Him. For
when you often meet in the same place, the power of
Satan is broken ; he is weakened, and the destruction
he endeavours to bring upon us, is kept off by the con
cord of your faith."
10 ON THE SACRIFICE
It is an indispensable obligation incumbent
upon man, as a rational creature, endowed with
free will, and created by God, and for God, fre
quently to acknowledge His supreme dominion
over him, and to testify his essential dependence
on Him. It is the first law and the first debt of
our nature. For being created by Him, it is our
duty to serve Him : being created for Him, it is
our duty to seek Him : and being redeemed by
Him for regaining the happiness we had forfeited,
it is our duty to love Him. Hence Christ says :
" The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him
only shalt thou serve. Thou shalt fear the Lord,
and serve Him only." (St. Matt. iv. 10.)
God complains of those who neglect this great
est and first of all duties. " The son," says He,
" honours his father, the servant fears his master :
" if I am a Father where is My honour ? if I am a
" Master where is the fear of Me ?" (Malachi i. 6.)
"I have," says He, "brought up children; but
"they have despised Me. The ox knoweth his
" owner, and the ass his master s crib ; but Israel
" hath not known Me, and My people have not
"understood." (Isaias i.)
Nay, God s original design in creating man was
that He might honour and praise Himself; for
when He had finished the creation of this world,
and put together its several parts, there was still
wanting therein an intelligent creature, that could
: OF THE MASS. 11
apprehend the heauty and order of His works, read
in them the traces of His infinite wisdom, power,
and goodness, honour Him and pay Him a
tribute" of praise. Irrational and even inanimate
creatures, by bearing the impress of the Deity,
pay Him a mute homage of praise. The
heavens show forth the glory of God, and the
firmament declareth the work of His hands."
(Ps. xviii.) But a rational and spiritual homage
was due to God. Man was therefore created,
endued with powers capable of understanding and
acknowledging the unlimited perfections of the
Author of all things, and placed in the temple of
this world, as the priest of nature, to offer up to
God the incense of praise and thanks, both for
himself, and for the whole creation, particu
larly for that part which, being mute and insen
sible, was incapable of this duty in a spiritual
manner. By our understanding we know and
acknowledge God ; and our will, the fountain of
gratitude, prompts us to make to Him, to the
best of our power, a rational return by love, praise,
and thanksgiving.
But it is not enough to praise and thank God
privately ; we are bound frequently to offer Him
a public homage. God is as much the Crea
tor and supreme ruler of empires, kingdoms,
cities, and lesser societies, as He is of individuals.
His dominion over them and their dependence on
12 UlS THE SACRIFICE
Him, is as essential, complete, and inalienable as
His dominion over individuals and as the depen
dence of individuals upon Him.
Empires, kingdoms, cities, &c., as public bodies,
owe therefore to God public worship, as much as
individuals owe to Him private worship. The
like motives engage us to return to God public
homages of thanksgiving and praise : His blessings
we enjoy in common ; the same sun gives to all
light and warmth ; the fatness of the earth is for
all ; we are all partakers of God s graces, of His
wonderful redemption, and of the comforts of His
holy providence. For all these benefits, which
He has heaped upon us in common, we must
join to offer Him a public sacrifice of thanks.
Hence David says : "In the midst of the church
I will praise Thee, God: with Thee shall
be my praise, in the great congregation." (Psalm
xxi.)
God, in creating us, destined us to live in
society. A certain instinct and our mutual neces
sities link us together. Society is our element,
out of which we can no more live, than fish can
live out of water.
But without laws, there can be no society;
without morality there can be no laws ; without
religion there can bo no morality; and without
public worship there can be no religion. Public
worship is necessary to maintain in the world a
OF THE MASS. 13
sense of God, and of our obligations to Him;
without which, all society would soon dissolve and
come to an end. The extreme insensibility of the
generality of mankind as to their obligations and
spiritual interests, arises from their being totally
absorbed in the cares, anxieties, and pleasures of
this life. The remedy of this evil is assiduous
meditation on the life to come, and spiritual
exercises, as religious festivals, public worship,
and public instruction. To make mention of
public instruction alone, it is the great means of
conveying to mankind, and inculcating on their
minds and hearts the knowledge of their duty to
God, to their neighbour, and to themselves,
together with that of the sanction of those divine
obligations by future eternal rewards and punish
ments ; and thus inspire them with a sense of
God and of religion and promote the peace and
.harmony of society.
Accordingly, no set of men ever formed them
selves into a religion, true or false, without public
worship ; so strongly is this duty engraved on the
hearts of all men, by the author of our nature.
Puffendorf, the greatest of all writers on natural
and public law, inculcates the duty of public wor-
.ship; and Adclison observes, that even if the
keeping of the seventh day were but a human
institution, still, it would be the best method that
could be devised for civilizing mankind. Even
14 ON THE SACRIFICE
deists acknowledge the duty of public prayer.
" Reason, (says Hobbs,) directeth, not only to wor-
" ship God in secret, but also and especially, in
" public, and in the sight of men; for without this,
"the procuring of others to honour God is not
"effected. It is the voice of nature, says Tindal,
"that God should be publicly worshiped." Hence
the wisest legislators and founders of states have
ever made public worship an essential part of
their civil constitutions.
Public worship is more honourable to the Divine
Majesty, more advantageous to our neighbour, and
more profitable to ourselves than private worship.
1st. Public worship is more honourable to God
than private worship ; all the faithful closely
united together, with their pastor at their head,
and infinitely above them Christ Jesus the great
Mediator of the New Testament, form but one
body ; when they present themselves before God,
their homage is most honourable and most accept
able to Him, as a king receives much greater
honour from the homage done to him by a whole
city or by all the states of his kingdom in a body,
than by that which private individuals could offer
him singly.
In private worship, we honour God by the high
esteem we conceive and testify of His excellency.
But we more properly do Him honour when in
public worship, we declare before others and in the
. OF THE MASS. 15
sight of heaven and earth, our unutterable esteem,
acknowledgment and deep sense of His sovereign
perfections. It is particularly then, that we give
Him the honour due to His name. Hence the
Angel Raphael said to the two Tohiases : " Give
glory to the God of heaven, in the sight of all
that live."
Public worship is more edifying than private
worship to our neighbour, kindling in him a
desire to love and serve the great God of all
creatures, and to invite angels and men to adore
Him, to whom they owe all that they are and
have. It supports a belief of His existence, a
deep sense of His Majesty, and devotion in the
world. By it we more powerfully invite and
engage others to serve God than we could do by
words ; by publicly glorifying God, we exercise the
functions of apostles, thereby propagating His
worship among many, for His greater glory upon
earth and for the salvation of souls during all
eternity. It is particularly on the tender minds
of children, that the sight of a multitude of people,
including their parents, prostrate before God, with
hands and eyes raised up towards heaven, makes
the most salutary impressions. They are formed
to public worship by the example of those whom
they love and revere ; and they will continue to
worship God publicly, when their parents are no
more. - Even the most backward and dull are
16 ON THE SACRIFICE
stirred up to fervour and devotion, at the sight of
so many devout persons adoring God together.
Who is there that at such a sight would not feel
moved to prostrate himself in like manner to wor
ship the Lord of all things, and to make to Him
the same acknowledgments ? The fervent them
selves feel their devotion increased, and are filled
with spiritual joy, on beholding so many persons
blessing the common Lord and Father of all with
their whole hearts, and in perfect union. Such
joy would enlarge the hearts of all who have any
feeling of divine zeal and charity. Hence the
Psalmist calls, not only upon men, but on all
creatures, to praise with him the Lord with their
whole hearts. " Behold, (says David,) how good
and pleasant it is, for brethren to praise God in
union." (Ps. cxxxii.) God showers down all sorts
of blessings upon people who are united in His
praises. Longum iter per preceptum, breve per
exemplum.
Public prayer is more beneficial to ourselves than
private prayer. If our public homage is more
honourable and acceptable to God, and more bene
ficial to our neighbour, in like manner, petitions
put up by the whole church are more powerful
than private prayer in obtaining divine blessings.
It was a maxim of the ancient synagogue, that
the prayers of the congregation are always heard ;
but not so assuredly those of individuals. Our
OF THE MASS. 17
Lord, by Lidding us to say in prayer, Our Father,
puts us in mind that we are frequently to join in
public prayer. "God," says St. Thomas Aquinas,
"often grants to one man s prayers that which he
" asks ; but to many who unanimously join in the
" same petitions, He grants more willingly, more
" largely, and more freely." The requests of great
cities or nations are a kind of suppliant compul
sions that are not ordinarily rejected ; and the
efficacy of the prayers of the whole Church is all-
powerful with God.
All prayers offered by the ministers of the
Church, as its public representatives, derive a par
ticular virtue from their public character and func
tions, and from the faith and devotion of the
universal Church, in whose name they are offered.
The priests are mediators between God and His
people, and their advocates with Him, being ap
pointed to make Him a tender of their homage, to
offer Him thanks, to avert His anger, and to draw
down upon them His mercy and blessing. The
efficacy of their ministry is exceedingly increased
by the actual presence and union of their congre
gations with them. By this union, the weakness
and the defects of the dispositions of some, are
supplied by the fervour of others ; and whilst all
pray in the same spirit, they form but one voice
and one prayer which Christ our Mediator and
Head presents and so strongly recommends, by
2
18 ON THE SACRIFICE
the price of His adorable blood, that it offers to
God a holy and agreeable violence.
This singular efficacy, absolute necessity, and
indispensable obligation of public prayer, were the
voice of reason and nature silent, appear evident,
from God s having made it a particular object of
His religious laws in every dispensation of revealed
religion ; from His having appointed for it regular
times, places, and ministers ; and instituted sacri
fices, to be there and then offered up to Himself.
By a particular providence, He has always pro
vided, for the honour of His divine name, a Church
of faithful believers and worshipers, that He
might be glorified throughout all ages ; and He
has directed, by express revelations and commands,
that all should honour Him by public worship.
Thus, after that God had punished our first
parents for their pride and disobedience, through
compassion on them, He exempted them from
labour on the seventh day, and taught them to
keep it holy, by offering up sacrifices.
During the antediluvian period, it was by public
worship and by public instruction, that religion
was kept alive and perpetuated ; for Enos the son
of Sctli exerted himself in propagating the public
worship of God by assembling large masses of
people, offering up sacrifices in their presence, and
in their behalf, by explaining to them the nature
and obligation thereof, and teaching them thereby
OF THE MASS. 19
to obtain from God their spiritual wants and
necessities. After him, Enoc the sixth descendant
from Adam, likewise went about, assembling mul
titudes of people, instructing them and impressing
on their minds the great truths of religion, and
their obligations to God, to their neighbour, and to
themselves. But, as after those two holy patri
archs there arose no successor to their zeal, sacri
fices and public instruction were soon neglected ;
ignorance, error and disbelief crept in, and were
soon followed by every kind of vice and wicked
ness, which brought on the punishment of the
universal deluge, in which the whole human race,
with the exception of one family, perished. This
shows the necessity of public worship, and of
public instruction.
The Israelites, while in Egypt, were prevented
from having public worship, being condemned to
hard labour on the Sabbaths as on other days. But
after their departure out of Egypt, and during the
forty years of their wandering in the desert, God,
in order to impress on their minds the obligation of
abstaining from work on the seventh day, and that
they might consecrate it to His worship, showered
down on them a double portion of manna on the
sixth day, while none fell on the seventh day.
This heavenly food would keep from sunrise on
the sixth day, till sunset on the following day ;
whereas, on other days, it would keep only from
ON THE SACRIFICE
sunrise to sunset of the same clay. When they
became so numerous as to form a nation, God gave
them laws, and public instructors, and established
public worship among them. He instituted foul-
kinds of sacrifices, corresponding with the four
principal duties they owed to Him; by His appoint
ment the ordinary daily sacrifices offered up in
the temple were doubled on the seventh day.
Why did God from the commencement of the
world, forbid all servile works on the seventh day ?
Why did all legislators and founders of states make
it an essential part of their civil constitutions, but
that all might be enabled to meet in public wor
ship to honour God and draw down on themselves
His help and protection ? Why did God prefix
the word remember to the third commandment,
and not to any of the others, but to intimate that
if this commandment be duly observed, it will
greatly help us to observe all the others ; and that
if it be neglected, the other commandments will,
in like manner, be neglected and forgotten.
But as under the Mosaic Law, sacrifice could be
offered up in the temple of Jerusalem only, and
as the people dispersed throughout Palestine, were
required to assist at the sacrifice in Jerusalem
only at the three great yearly solemnities, those
alone who dwelt at Jerusalem, enjoyed the advan
tages of weekly public worship. To all the other
Israelites, the sabbaths were merely days of rest
OF THE MASS. 21
and of private devotion. It was by private in
struction that the knowledge of the truths of
religion and of the commands of God were per
petuated ; the parents instructing the children as
Moses had commanded them: "these words,"
said he, "which I have commanded thee this day,
"shall he in thy heart; thou shalt tell them to
"thy children, thou shalt meditate upon them
"sitting in thy house, walking on thy journey,
"lying down and rising up." Yet for want of
weekly public worship and weekly public instruc
tion, the nation, during tlio eras of the judges
and of the kings, was continually relapsing into
idolatry. But after the Babylonish captivity,
Esclras, the second legislator of the Jews, in order
to prevent the recurrence of a similar catastrophe,
had, by divine inspiration, places of public wor
ship, corresponding with our parish churches,
called synagogues, erected in every canton through
out the length and breadth of the land, where peo
ple might meet on every sabbath, to pray, to read
the Scriptures, and to listen to the interpretation
of them by the priests and Levitcs; but not to offer
up sacrifices. The result was most beneficial;
the people who had hitherto lived in ignorance
and violation of the covenant, became the most
uncompromising enemies of every idolatrous prac
tice, and until the destruction of the temple and
the dispersion of the nation, continued faithful
22 ON THE SACRIFICE
observers of the law of Moses, notwithstanding
that Antiochus and others, by violent persecu
tions, endeavoured to make them abandon it :
witness the glorious death of the aged Eleazar and
of the mother, with her seven sons ; witness the
noble stand in defence of the law of God, made by
Judas Machabeus and his brothers.
In the new law, Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the
Councils, and the holy Fathers likewise impressed
on Christians the duty of public prayer, and re
commended it, as a most powerful and necessary
means of perpetuating religion and obtaining all
manner of graces.
1st. Christ inculcates upon us this duty by
word and by example. After His return from
Egypt, and during His private and public life, He
never missed being present at Jerusalem on the
solemn occasions prescribed by the law. Although
the fear of Archclaus prevented Him from residing
at Jerusalem, the fear of God brought Him thither
on the days commanded by the law. He incul
cated public prayer by word. "When," says He,
"two or three arc gathered together in My name,
"there am I in the midst of them," in My quality
of High Priest, animating them by My example,
presenting their prayers to My Eternal Father,
pleading for them, by showing the marks of My
wounds, by which I have purchased for them a
title to all mercy and grace. The primitive
OF THE MASS. 23
Christians always sanctified the Sundays by meet
ing together to celebrate and receive the Holy
Eucharist, and to listen to the explanation of the
Word of God. Thus we read in the Acts of the
Apostles (ii. 42), " That they were persevering in
" the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communi-
" cation of the breaking of bread."
In offering up the Holy Eucharist, St. Paul
prescribes "that in the Church, first of all, suppli-
" cations, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings,
" be made for kings and for all that are in high
" stations, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
"life in all piety and chastity; for this is good
" and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."
(1 Tim. ii.) S. Justin Martyr, in the second
century, says in his Apology: " Upon Sundays, all
that live in the city or in the country meet
" together in the same place and at the same
" time, when the writings of the prophets and
" apostles are read, as much as time will permit.
" The bishop then makes a sermon, in which he
" instructs the people, and animates them to the
" practice of the good precepts ; all, afterwards
" rise up and pray. Prayers being over, the Holy
" Eucharist is celebrated, and the bishop puts up
" prayers and thanksgivings with all the fervour
" of which he is capable, and the people conclude
"by the acclamation Amen. The consecrated
" elements are then distributed and partaken of by
24 ON THE SACRIFICE
" all present, and sent to the absent, by the hands
" of the deacons." Pliny the Younger, writing to
the Emperor Trajan, states, that the Christians
were wont to assemble before sunrise to sing hymns
to their Christ, and to encourage one another to
abstain from all manner of evil deeds. St. Peter,
whose very shadow cured the most inveterate dis
eases, stood indebted for his deliverance from pri
son to the joint prayers of the faithful: for "prayer
" was then made for him without ceasing by the
" Church." (Acts xii. 5.) St. Paul had constant
recourse to the supplications of the faithful, to
obtain tho Divine blessing on his labours. " If
" we are weak," says St. Chrysostom, " when we
" pray alone, we become powerful when assembled
" together in a body. By our union we overcome
"God. You can indeed," says he, "pray at
" home, but such prayers will not have the same
" power and efficacy as when the Church, in a
" body presents supplications with one heart and
"one voice; and the priests, being present, offer
" up tho words of the whole assembly. Peter and
" Paul are the pillars and towers of the Church ;
" yet it was the joint prayers of the Church, that
" broke asunder the chains of the former, and
" opened the mouth of the latter." Tortullian,
speaking of Christians assembled in public prayer,
says : " Wo come in a formidable body and close
" battalion, as it were, to do violence to God and
OF THE MASS.
25
"to storm heaven by the voice of united prayer:
" such a force offers a most agreeable violence to
heaven." "Nothing," says St. Athanasius,
"better represents the concord of a people;
"nothing more powerfully inclines God to hear
" our prayers than great assemblies of persons,
" making supplications together, and singing the
" divine praises with one heart and one voice ; for
" if two persons united together in prayer obtain of
" God what they ask, what may we not expect
"when a numerous people join together in the
" same place and answer Amen to all the prayers
"of the priest?"
So great was the spirit of zeal of the primitive
Christians for public Divine worship, tlnit they
could not be deterred from assisting at the cele
bration of the Divine Mysteries. Hence, in the
reign of the Emperor Valerian, many Christians
were kept in loathsome dungeons, loaded with
chains, purposely to prevent them from assisting
at public worship ; and many others were put to
death for having assisted thereat. SS. Satur-
ninus and Dativus, having been apprehended
while assisting at Divine worship on a Sunday,
answered the judge, under the sharpest torments :
" The obligation of Sunday is indispensable. We
" never pass a Sunday without meeting together
" to pray : it is not lawful for us to omit the
" duty of that sacred day."
26 ON THE SACRIFICE
Wherefore, to neglect the sanctification of the
Sunday by public prayer, is to trample on a most
solemn precept of God, inviolable throughout all
ages ; it is to refuse to employ the most necessary
means of sanctifying our souls, and rendering to
God the solemn worship we owe Him. The
primitive Christians stood in need of no other
stimulus to engage them to fulfil this sacred duty,
than their ardour and devotion, and a sense of
piety and religion. But when the fervour of many
began to wax cold, the Church, by an inviolable
law, commanded all her children to assist atten
tively and devoutly at Divine worship, on all Sun
days and days of obligation. The Council of
Trent, in particular, (Sess. xxii.) enjoins all
bishops to take care that their flocks be duly put
in mind of the obligation every one is under, of
assisting at public worship on the above days, and
of hearing the word of God expounded and incul
cated.
OF THE MASS. 27
CHAPTEE II.
SACRIFICE IN GENERAL ; ITS NATURE, ORIGIN,
NECESSITY AND PERPETUITY.
"All tilings, according to the law, are cleansed \vitli
blood (with sacrifices); arid without the shedding of
blood (without sacrifice), there is no remission of sins."
(Heb. ix. 22.)
Public worship is a duty which we owe to God ;
and sacrifice, the proper means of performing that
duty. It is the great act of public worship : by its
nature, it is the public worship of God.
From the first, God required that men should
render Him some common acknowledgment of His
supreme dominion over them, and of their essential
dependance upon Him ; and sacrifice, not com
mon prayer merely, but solemn sacrifice was the
act of divine worship which He appointed for this
purpose. It was He Himself, that revealed to our
first parents this mode, by which He desired to be
approached and worshiped by them, and by their
descendants. Hence, wherever man exists, we
find sacrifice everywhere prevalent. Hence, since
the creation of the world, sacrifice has ever formed
the chief feature of that religion which God gave
to man. It has been ever considered to be
28 ON THE SACRIFICE
emphatically the worship which God required to
be rendered to Himself alone. No religion, either
natural or revealed, ever existed without it. Sacri
fice and religion, sacrifice and divine worship, have
always been looked upon as one and the same
thing. They who would worship God acceptably,
must offer up sacrifice to Him.
In its most general acceptation, sacrifice is an
honour due to God alone, and the principal honour
due to Him. It is an lionour due to God alone ;
it belongs to Him exclusively ; it is uncommuni-
cable to any other, being expressive of the supreme
dominion, belonging to Him alone. To oiler it to
any other, would be the crime of idolatry. Hence,
God Himself says: "He that sacrificeth to the
gods, save only to the Lord, shall be put to
death." (Exodus xxii. 20.) Sacrifice is the Iriylicst
icorslilp that we can render unto God. There are
two species of worship due to God alone, adoration
and sacrifice, of which, the latter is the greater.
Adoration is the personal worship of God, even
when domestic, or public, as in Catholic afternoon
divine service. Sacrifice is the public worship of
Iliin. AVc can alone adore God at any time, and
in any place. Sacrifice, being the public worship
of God, requires a church or temple, a priest, an
altar, an offering, particular robes, and the pre
sence of a congregation of people, in whose name
and in whose behalf, the sacrifice is offered. In
OF THE MASS.
adoration, we humble our persons, our souls and
bodies only before God ; in sacrifice, we moreover
make Him an offering of something material and
tangible. By adoration, we offer Him our actions
only : by sacrifice, wo offer Him not only our
actions, but also our very beings.
The offering made to God in sacrifice is always
destroyed or consumed, 1st. in acknowledgment
that we are God s creatures, and as nothing
in His sight ; that we owe to Him, life, breath
and all things: "Behold," says David to God,
"it is Thou that dctcrmincst the number of my
" days ; and my substance is as nothing before
"Thee." (Psalm xxxviii. G.) 2nd. To acknow
ledge that God is so perfect and independent, that
He does not stand in need of our offerings, and
cannot be bettered by them : "I have said to the
Lord, Thou art my God ; Thou hast no need of
my goods." 3rd. That He is the Master of life
and death : " The Lord killeth and maketh alive,
"He bringeth down to hell and bringeth back
" again. The poles of the earth are the Lord s ;
"and upon them He has set the world." (Anna s
Canticle.)
The destruction of the offering or victim, is the
distinctive and indispensable feature of sacrifice,
and is consequently found in every kind of sacri
fice. By sacrifice, we acknowledge that we are
God s creatures. But did we ever reflect what it
30 ON THE SACRIFICE
is to be God s creatures ? to owe to Him our
being ; at one moment to be nothing, and the next
to exist by the sole will of God ; so that, were He
to will it, we should in an instant, become nothing
again, as we were before He made us ? Nothing
stands to us in the place in which we stand to
God ; nothing we possess, whether it have life or
not, is ours, in the sense in which we are God s.
The animal we kill, the fuel we consume, the food
we eat, have their existence independently of us ;
but we, as they also, have no existence out of
God. It is not only that God is great and strong,
and that we are little and weak ; but that we exist
only by the act of God s Will. It is not only that we
are God s property, and that He has the power of
life and death over us ; but that out of Him, we are
nothing. Words cannot express the reality of
this tremendous truth ; God is all, and we are
nothing. Thus, not only all we have, but all we
are, is His : this debt we owe to God, by the very
fact of our existence. Hence, we see, what the
worship of God by sacrifice is. It is to offer our
selves to Him, to make an entire surrender of
ourselves to Him, to annihilate ourselves before
Him.
If mankind had never sinned, if we had been born
into this world as innocent and as holy as Adam
was before his fall, nothing less than sacrifice
could have satisfied the debt we owe to God, as to
OF THE MASS. 31
the author of our being, the All-holy, Almighty,
Eternal God. By the destruction of the offering,
men showed that they owed all to God, and were
as nothing in His sight. But the shedding of blood
is something more. An unbloody sacrifice, for
instance, a sacrifice of corn and wine, is such a
sacrifice as an innocent creature might make to
his Creator. But we are no longer in that blessed
state : when Adam fell, w T e lost our innocence ; when
Adam sinned, we became sinners ; we all sinned in
him, and as sinners, became subject to death, the
punishment of sin. A bloody sacrifice is therefore
the offering of sinful creatures to their offended
God. Our state was changed : before we owed to
God the homage of our being; now we owe to
Him the additional penalty of death. Not only
so, we had incurred a debt which nothing we had
to give, could satisfy. God w r as angry with us ;
w r e were guilty in His sight ; we stood in need of
forgiveness and reconciliation. How were they to
be obtained ? In His love and mercy, God pro
vided a remedy. At the very moment when He
pronounced upon our first parents the sentence of
punishment, He told them of a Deliverer to come,
for whose sake, He would pardon them and their
children. This Deliverer was none other than our
Saviour Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the
adorable Trinity, who was to become man and die
for us.
32 OX THE SACRIFICE
But God did not merely foretell them of this
deliverer; He taught them a religious rite, by
which they might have a present interest in the
work He was to do, and, as it were, forestall the
benefits of His death. This religious rite was
sacrifice. It prefigured the great propitiatory
sacriiicc of the cross. It was no longer merely
the solemn act of worship, by which our first
parents offered themselves to God and paid Him
the homage they owed Him as His creatures ; by
bloody sacrifices, they moreover acknowledged
themselves to be sinners, made expiation for sin,
and obtained forgiveness.
Tu what, then, does sacrifice, as offered by
sinners consist? It consists of three parts: of
the offering to God of a victim ; of the immolation
of it ; and of its destruction or consumption.
1. Of ilic < >!i er ni> ! of (i rictini: An animal is
brought to the temple ; the priest places, in his
o\vn name and in that of those for whom the
sacrifice is to be offered, his hands on its head ;
thereby acknowledging that they had, by their sins,
incurred the penalty of death, declaring that
they transferred their sins on to its head, and
substituted it to die in their place: they at the
same time fervently prayed that God would remit
the forfeit of their lives in consideration of the
faith, contrition, and devotion with which they
olfered up the sacriiicc.
OF THE MASS. 33
2. In the immolation of the victim : Bloody .
sacrifices date from the fall. How significant
were such, sacrifices of the sinner s condition
before God, and of his needs ! The victim he
slew, whose blood he poured out, whose body he
burnt and consumed, represented himself. By
those several acts he acknowledged the debt
which, as a sinner, he owed to God ; that his
life was forfeited for his sins, and that suffering
would be his eternal portion, should God deal with
him according to his deserts ; at the same time, he
testified his faith in the promises of God, together
with his steadfast hope, that the true Yictim, the
Lamb without spot, would one day come and
restore him to the favour of his Maker. God
said to him: "Thou art guilty; tliou deservest
" death ; thou must acknowledge it ; thou must
" slay victims, and thereby acknowledge, that it is
" thou thyself that deservest to bo slain. In the
"place of thyself, I will accept of the blood of
" animals ; I will exempt thee from the death
"thou hast incurred; and I will pardon thee the
" crimes by which thou hast rendered thyself
" liable o eternal punishment."
3. The third essential part of sacrifice is Com
munion, or the participation of the victim. That
the flesh of the victim should be partaken of by
those who assisted at the sacrifice, was commas dud
by Gcd Himself, in revealing to man this rite. It
34 OX THE SACRIFICE
is a universal conviction, derived from the primi
tive revelation made to man, and which has ever
existed among all mankind, that hy partaking of
the flesh of the victim, they actually communed
with the ])ivinity. This participation of the
flesh of the victim, has always been practised by
all the nations of the earth. " Throughout the
"whole world," says Pelisson, " the flesh of the
"victim has always been eaten: amongst all
" nations, the sacrifice has always ended by a
" solemn banquet of man with the gods." Hence
we find, in the ancient poets, mention of the ban
quets of Jupiter and of the meats of Neptune;
meaning that the ilesh of the victims was eaten,
after it had been offered to those false divinities.
Among the Jews, the sacrifice of holocaust, in
which alone the whole victim was burnt in
acknowledgment of God s supreme dominion over
them, and of their total and essential dependence
on Him, was accompanied by the offering of a
cake, to be eaten as a communion, that this
indispensable condition of sacrifice might not be
wanting.
Sacriiic-o is not, therefore, like Protestant wor
ship, merely a form of prayers, something being
done there us well as said. Protestant ministers
perform no priestly oilice whatever; they turn
always to the people, and face them in praying, as
OF THE MASS. 35
in preaching. They do nothing, indeed, which any
one man might not do just as well as another.
Sacrifice is necessary: it is the indispensable
act of religion. It is as impossible to conceive a
religion without sacrifice, as to conceive God
without sovereign dominion over His creatures,
and His creatures without the obligation of
acknowledging His sovereign dominion over them.
He is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the
principle, the source or fountain of all the natural
and supernatural advantages we enjoy. To, Him,
therefore, we owe the homage of whatever we are
and have ; and the only means of performing this
homage is sacrifice; for His sovereign dominion
over His creatures cannot be fully recognised but
by their destruction. They, therefore, who would
worship God acceptably must offer up to Him
sacrifices.
Sacrifice is of Divine origin or institution :
Almighty God continued His mercy to our first
parents after their banishment from paradise.
He not only exempted them from labour on the
seventh day, but also taught them to spend it
in offering up to Him in sacrifice some part of
the produce of their fields, or of the increase of
their flocks, in token that all they got by their
labour, was His gift; and in token of His su
preme dominion over all His creatures. God
had also a further intention, that the shed-
00 OX THE SACRIFICE
ding of the blood of the lamb or other animal
that was killed and burnt upon the altar, should
servo as a token that in due time the Blood of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should be shed on
the cross for the sins of all the guilty children of
Adam. "For it was impossible that with the
" blood of oxen and of goats, sins should be
"remitted." (Ileb. x. 4.) It was God Himself
that showed to Adam the manner of sacrifice ;
how they were to build an altar, and how the gift
that they offered thereon, was to be burnt, for fire
is the punishment of sin. Had not God Himself
revealed to them the manner of this rite, and de
clared that it was thus lie wished to be honoured
and appeased, how could they have imagined that
;in animal slain in their own place could deliver
them from punishment and death, and that God
accepted this substitution ? Those bloody sacri
fices were pleasing to God only as figures of One
who was to come to be offered Himself in sacrifice,
and whose own blood was to be the redemption of
the world. In this way, then, Almighty God
showed His love and mercy to our first parents, in
teaching them how to preserve their fear and
regard for Him, and how to offer to Him such
Hiitrifices and worship on His holy day of rest as
He was pleased to accept, in the meantime, until
Christ should come into the world to leave
behind in it the true and only acceptable Victim
OF THE MASS. 37
which is now offered in the holy Sacrifice of the
Muss.
It is plain, from what has "been said, First,
that no sacrifice, whether bloody or unbloody,
had any power in itself to take away sins, or to
draw down blessings from God; it had this power
only, as being a type or figure of the sacrifice
of Christ. The real victim of propitiation was
Jesus Christ, thus slain in figure and promise.
It was the death of the Lamb of God, slain in
figure from the beginning of the world, that the
patriarchs and ancient just celebrated beforehand
in their bloody sacrifices. It was to express their
faith and hope in the future Sacrifice of the Cross
that they offered up bloody sacrifices ; it was their
faith in this future Sacrifice, that rendered their
sacrifices acceptable to God, and imparted efficacy
to them. Without this faith, no sacrifice could
have been acceptable to Him.
2. It is also plain that no sacrifice can be
acceptable to God unless accompanied, on the
part of the worshiper, with the interior sacri
fice of the heart, by faith, contrition, and devo
tion. It is vital religion, the religion of the
heart, that renders both the worshiper and the
sacrifice acceptable to God; for while man sees
but the things that appear outwardly, God looks
to the dispositions of the heart : " for God is a
" spirit, and they who adore Him must adore
38 ON THE SACRIFICE
" Him in spirit and in truth." (St. John iv.) Ex
terior sacrifice is hut the outward expression of
the interior sacrifice of the heart ; it would he
the greatest hypocrisy, outwardly to profess dis
positions, which one does not inwardly possess.
If God condemns those who offer Him sacrifice
negligently, how much more will He condemn
those who merely pretend to honour Him : hence
He complains of those who pretend to " honour
" Him with their lips, while their hearts are far
" from Him." This does not mean that the
interior sacrifice of the heart, without the exterior
sacrifice of the altar, is sufficient. The sacrifice of
the altar was God s institution and ordinance. It
was the means hy which mankind were to have an
interest in the future Sacrifice of the Cross. It was
the way in which He desired to he approached and
worshiped hy His people. It is therefore neces
sary to assist worthily at exterior sacrifices, in
order to become acceptable to God; and those only
are thereby benefited who offer them, and assist
at them, with the requisite dispositions of faith,
contrition, and devotion. They were, moreover,
obliged to assist at exterior sacrifices, in order to
provoke their neighbours to worship God by their
example. In a word, exterior sacrifice has always
boon regarded by mankind, as the means of testi
fying towards the divine Majesty the dispositions
of their hearts.
OF THE MASS. 39
The religion which God gave to man, at the
creation, was a religion of sacrifice ; sacrifice was
the religion of the antediluvian period, of Ahel,
Seth, Enos and Enoc ; the religion of Noah and
of his sons, the religion of Melchisedech and of
Job was a religion of sacrifices.
When God took the family of Abraham to be
His own peculiar people, among whom His true
worship was to be preserved, and of whom should
be born the promised Saviour, He instituted a
regular order of priests, to whom alone it apper
tained to offer up sacrifices : thus, He set aside
the tribe of Levi for the service of the altar, and
the family of Aaron for the office of the priest
hood. He instituted four different kinds of sacri
fices, corresponding with the four great duties
we owe to God. 1. Holocausts, or whole burnt
offerings. 2. Thank offerings. 3. Sin offerings.
4. Peace offerings. Those four different kinds of
sacrifices comprise all the ends of divine wor
ship : 1. to render supreme honour and glory to
God ; 2. to give Him thanks for His innumera
ble benefits; 3. to appease His anger, and to obtain
from Him the pardon of our sins ; 4. to ask of
Him those graces and blessings of which we
stand in need. In the holocaust, the victim was
entirely consumed by fire, while in the other three
sacrifices it was only partly consumed ; of the rest
the priest and people partook, thus making it a
40 ON THE SACRIFICE
kind of spiritual banquet or communion. In the
first seven chapters of the Book of Leviticus, we
read how God commanded His chosen people
to worship Him ; how, in some way or other,
sacrifice was the one great action of their lives.
It was one continual round, or offering up of
sacrifices, daily, every day, and on every occasion,
public and private : the fire of the altar was never
suffered to go out ; the smoke of the sacrifices
ascended continually ; the blood of the victims
never ceased to flow round about the altar. Every
morning and every evening, incense was burned
iind a lamb offered up as a holocaust to God. On
the Sabbath the offerings were doubled : every new
moon was made holy to the Lord by still more
abundant sacrifices ; and all the great festivals
were solemnised in a similar manner throughout
the year. More than this, sacrifice was not
only the national religion ; it was the religion of
the individual man. It was associated with every
circumstance of his life. If he committed any sin,
he confessed it and offered up sacrifice for it ; he
led the victim to the priest, and laid his hand
upon its head, to show that the innocent animal
was going to bear his sins, and to die in his
place; it was then slain by the priest, and its
blood poured round about the altar. If he de
sired to obtain any particular blessing or mercy
he did in like manner; if the blessing were
OF THE MASS. 41
granted, or any particular mercy bestowed upon
him, sacrifice was offered up in thanksgiving.
Now this Jewish religion was the religion which
God gave to His people ; and which was to pre
pare them for Christianity. The Jewish reli
gion was Christianity in the bud or germ. Its
object was to educate and to train men for the
Christian religion. The Jewish religion was
Christianity undeveloped, while Christianity is the
Jewish religion developed and fulfilled. But if
Christianity was to have no sacrifice, how could
the Jewish religion be a preparation for it ? So
far from Judaism being a preparation or introduc
tion to Protestantism, it is essentially and abso
lutely opposed to it.
Sacrifice was no distinctive mark of the Mosaic
religion. It was universally practised among the
nations of the earth. It is certain, as well from
holy Scripture as from profane history, that not
in one country only, but over the whole inhabited
earth, there were priests and sacrifices. "If,"
says Plutarch, " you travel through the nations of
" the earth, you may meet with cities without
" walls, without lyceums and academies, without
" a monetary circulating medium, without arts
" and sciences ; but you will never meet with a
" city without gods, temples, priests, sacrifices,
" oracles, and religious ceremonies ; in a word,
42 ON THE SACRIFICE
" sacrifice lias ever been the religion of the whole
" world."
It is true that, while the nations of the earth
retained the use of sacrifices, they lost the true
meaning of them ; that they lost sight of the ohject
of them ; that they forgot, or hut dimly remem
bered, Him who was to come, and sacrificed to
false gods, and to idols, instead of to the one true
and living God ; but, still, while misapplying
them, they retained correct notions of the nature
of the rite, and continually offered it up.
Sacrifice was never to cease : it commenced
with the world, and is to cease but with, the
world. We have seen above, that it is of divine
institution, and that from the beginning, it has
n variably been, among all nations, the principal
and essential act of divine worship. This, alone,
is a strong presumption that God designed that it
should always be continued to be offered up. We
nowhere find it written in any part of Scripture
that all kinds of sacrifices were to cease. On the
contrary, we find it asserted that they should con
tinue as long as the world should last.
Carnal sacrifices, the sacrifices of bulls and
gouts, were indeed to be done away; but another,
and a better, sacrifice was to come in their
place. The Christian Church was to have a real
sacrifice, offered on real altars, by real priests.
God had predicted, by His prophets, the abolition
OF THE MASS. 43
of the Jewish sacrifices; and Christ did aholish
them : hut He announced, at the same time, the
coming in of another sacrifice. Thus Isaias (xix.
19) declares that there shall he " an altar of the
"Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and
"that the Egyptians shall worship Him with
" sacrifices and offerings." It is here expressly
foretold that the Egyptians, a gentile people,
should have the altar of the true and living God
among them, and should worship Him with sacri
fices and offerings. The same prophet also fore
told (Ixvi.) how God would cast off the nation of
the Jews, and call in the gentiles in their place.
" I will," says He, " send to the gentiles, of
" them that will he saved ; and I will take of
" them to he priests and Levites, saith the Lord :
" for as the new heaven and the new earth, which
" I will make to stand before Me, so shall your
" seed stand and your name." Here again it is
declared that, not only the Christian Church shall
have priests, hut that they shall endure as long
as the heavens and the earth shall stand. <l There
" shall not," says Jeremias, (xxxiii. 17,) " be
" cut off from David a man to sit upon the throne
" of the house of Israel, neither shall there be
" cut off from the priests and Levites a man
" before My face, to offer holocausts, to burn
" sacrifices, and to kill victims continually."
These words evidently apply to our Blessed Lord
44 ON THE SACRIFICE
ami His Church ; for the Angel Gabriel, (St.
Luke i. 32,) when lie announced to the Blessed
Virgin that she should become the Mother of the
Messias, applied them to Him ; and they evidently
declare that the priesthood shall never fail, but
that, in that Church or kingdom, there shall ever
be priests to offer up sacrifices continually.
We read in the eleventh verse of the first
chapter of Malachy, the following famous pro
phecy, in which God says to the Jews : " I have
" no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts :
" and I will not receive a gift from your hands.
" For, from the rising of the sun to the going
" down thereof, My name is great among the
" gentiles; and in every place there shall be
" sacrifice, and there shall be offered to My
" name a clean oblation : for My name is great
<: among the gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts."
Two things are here clearly foretold : 1st. the re
jection of the Jewish sacrifices ; " I have no plea-
" sure In you, and I will not receive a gift from
" your hand :" 2nd. the substitution of a new and
better sacrifice in their place, which was to be
o fie red up, not only in Jerusalem, but in every
place : " and in every place there shall le sacri-
"Jice, and a clean oblation" This future sacri
fice cannot be that of the cross, which was offered
once only, and in one place, namely, in Jerusa-
OF THE MASS. 45
1cm, but that of the Mass, which is continually
offered up everywhere.
If we consider the words of our Lord to the
Samaritan woman, (St. John iv.) in connection
with the above prophecy of Malacliy, we shall dis
cover that they mutually illustrate each other.
The woman, acknowledging Christ as a prophet,
desires to have her mind set at rest on the long
disputed question, which divided the Jews and her
own people: " Our fathers," said she, " wor-
" shiped on this mountain (Garizim) ; but You
" say that Jerusalem is the place where men must
"adore." By u-orslupinri, or adoring, is here
meant the offering up of sacrifice ; for the word
adoring is frequently used thus in Scripture ;
sacrifice being emphatically the worship of God.
Indeed, all men have ever been at liberty to adore
God, in the general sense of the word, wherever
they pleased; but sacrifice could be offered only
in the place which God had chosen. Our Saviour
answered her: " Woman, the hour cometh, when,
" neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem,
" you shall adore the Father." That is to say,
the hour is close at hand, when the sacrifices of
both Jews and gentiles shall be abolished, and
the adoration of the Father by sacrifice shall not
be confined to this place or to that, to this mount
or to Jerusalem ; but shall be extended to every
place. Christ moreover adds: "The hour is
46 ON THE SACRIFICE
" come when true adorers shall adore the Father
" in spirit and in truth." This part of the
prediction tells of something new ; but true
adorers had always adored God in spirit and
in truth, as the words are commonly understood.
For good Jews and Samaritans had always wor
shiped and served God sincerely ; there would
have been nothing new in this : something more
must, therefore, be intended, namely, that the
time is at hand, when sacrifice will be offered up
to the true and living God, in every place
throughout the world, from the rising of the sun,
to the going down thereof. Sacrifice will, there
fore, never cease till the end of the world.
Protestants maintain that these prophecies refer
to the Sacrifice of the Cross; that the old sacrifices
were abolished, and that Christians have no other
sacrifice but that which Christ offered of Him
self upon the Cross.
Most true : the old sacrifices were abolished,
and the Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross is the
Christian s only sacrifice. But how can the
Christian be said to have that sacrifice, which was
offered eighteen hundred years ago ; to have it
now, in present possession, to-day, and every day ?
The Sacrifice of the Cross was offered up on one
particular day, in one place, on Mount Calvary,
outside the walls of Jerusalem. But the sacrifice
of which the prophets sp^ak, was to be offerer
OF THE MASS. 47
" among the gentiles, and in every place ;" not
once only, but continually. If it be answered,
that the Christian has it by faith, I reply : so had
the Jews, so had the patriarchs. Yet faith could
not give it to them as a present possession ;
neither can faith alone give it to the Christian.
Thus the Protestant, on his own showing, is in no
better condition than was the Jew. Nay, he is
plainly in a worse ; for the Jew had the figure of
a true sacrifice, which w r as all he could have, before
the offering was made; he had that which, by
God s appointment, gave him an interest in the
sacrifice that was a preparing ; but the Protestant
has nothing but the barren memory of the event.
How, then, can he be said to have an interest in
an oblation of which he has no share in offering ?
In what sense the Catholic possesses the reality, I
will show in the sequel. Sacrifice, therefore, ivill
never cease to the end of the world.
What, then, shall we think of Protestantism,
which, has no sacrifice, which took upon itself to
abolish the great Christian sacrifice ; which did
away with that which everywhere, and in all
times, and by all Christians, throughout the
world, has always been regarded as the highest
and most essential act of divine worship ? Every
other religion, since the commencement of the
world, has had sacrifice. Protestantism is the
only religion without sacrifice ; and as Protes-
48 ON THE SACRIFICE
tantism is only three hundred years old, it is only
for the last three hundred years of the world, that
this strange sight has been beheld of a people
believing themselves to possess a divine religion,
and yet a religion without a sacrifice.
Thus, it was God Himself that revealed sacrifice
to our first parents as the mode by which He was
pleased to be worshiped by them, and by their
posterity. Sacrifice has in all ages ever formed
the principal feature of the religion of all the
nations of the earth ; and it will continue such till
the expiration of all time.
. This is my hlooj ofthc new tcsuimcnt, which
sh cd lor many Ihr tl-, c remission of sins - Si Mauler xxvi.
1" ihu Mass the pniii!i],,il Priosi ,1,1,1 the Victim are the same as
"ii the Cross." Con. 7VW. 6> ss . a^ c . a.
OF THE MASS. 49
CHAPTEE III.
ON THE NATURE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
The Sacrifice of the Altar one and the same with
the Sacrifice of the Cross, a continuation, a
representation, and a commemoration thereof.
" In the Sacrifice of the Mass is contained, and
" immolated, in an unbloody manner, the same Jesus
" Christ who once offered Himself a bloody victim on
" the altar of the Cross: in the Mass, the victim is the
" same, and the principal Priest the same as on the
" Cross; the only difference being in the mode of obla-
" tion : the merits or fruits of the bloody Sacrifice of
"the Cross, are abundantly imparted to our souls by
" the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass."
(Council of Trent, Session 22, ch, 2.)
Public worship is a duty whicli we owe to God,
and sacrifice the proper manner of fulfilling that
duty, according to His will. It was God Himself
that revealed to man this mode of worshiping
Him. From the creation of the world, sacrifice
has ever constituted the chief feature of that reli
gion, which God gave to man.
It is emphatically the worship of God, the
worship which God ordained to be rendered to
Himself alone. Sacrifice and religion, sacrifice
4
50 ON THE SACRIFICE
and Divine worship, are, in effect, one and the
same thing. The abolition of Sacrifice would
have been regarded as the extinction of all reli
gion. Had sacrifice been abolished, the solemn
worship of God would have been considered to
have ceased throughout the world ; God would no
longer be looked upon as receiving the honour due
to His name. Hence, the prophets, describing
the extinction of religion, represent the people of
God as " sitting without sacrifice or altar," (Osee
iii. 4.): "ami the continual sacrifice taken away."
(Dan. xii. 11.)
Sacrifice was never to cease : Carnal sacrifices
indeed, the sacrifices of bulls and goats, were to be
done away ; but another and a better sacrifice was
to come in their stead. This, the prophets fore
told in various ways. There was to be a sacri
fice essentially pure and holy, which was to
supersede all the carnal sacrifices that heretofore
had been offered. It was to be celebrated every
where throughout the world, among all nations :
it was to go on continually, and was never to cease
as long as the sun and moon should stand. All
this I have shown in the preceding chapter.
Before entering upon the subject of the per
petual and universal Sacrifice of the Mass, it may
1)0 proper to remind the reader of four funda
mental truths, that have an essential reference to
this matter.
OF THE MASS. 51
1st. It was through the disobedience of our
first parents Adam and Eve, that sin and death
entered the world ; and that both sin and death
passed upon all their descendants, they having
sinned in the persons of their first parents ; in
punishment of which first sin, the gates of heaven
were closed against the whole human race, they
all being children of wrath. (Ephes. ii. 3.)
2nd. In fulfilment of the promise made to our
first parents immediately after their fall that of
the woman should l)C born one that should crush
the head of the serpent, (Genesis iii. 15.) the
second Person of the adorable Trinity took upon
Him our human nature, in order to destroy the
works of the devil, (1 John iii. 8.) who had induced
our first parents to transgress to effect our recon
ciliation with heaven, and to restore us to our
original condition ; for unless He became man,
He could not suffer ; and unless He were God,
He could not by His sufferings have effected our
redemption ; but being both God and man, He was
capable of suffering, and His sufferings were effec
tual in redeeming us. " Hence," St. Paul says,
" as by the offence of the first man (Adam), con-
" demnation was brought upon all men; so, by
" the justice of the Man-God, the justification of
" life is brought within the reach of all men. As
" by the disobedience of one man (Adam) all were
52 ON THE SACRIFICE
" made sinners ; so, by the obedience of one man
" (Christ) many are made just." (Rom. v. 18, 19.)
3rd. Christ by His death on the cross, has
t( delivered us from the power of darkness, and
" transferred us into the kingdom of His Eternal
"Father. He has reconciled all things in Himself,
"making peace through the blood of His Cross,
"both as to the things that are on earth, and the
" things that are in heaven; blotting out the hand-
" writing of the decree that stood against us, He
" nailed it to the cross ; and stripping the powers
"and principalities of darkness of the power they
" had over mankind, He confidently made a show
" of them, openly triumphing over them in Him-
"self." (Colos. i. 13, 20 ; ii. 14, 15.) Satan then
ceased to be the prince of this world. (John xvi.
11.) Christ unlocked and threw open to mankind
the gates of heaven, that had remained closed ever
since the fall of Adam, during the space of four
thousand years. "When Thou didst overcome the
" sharpness of death, Thou didst open the king-
" dom of heaven to all believers." (Te Deum.)
Not only did Christ, by the Sacrifice of the
Cross, and by His other sufferings, pay the price
of our redemption, He also thereby acquired an
infinite treasure of merits, by which lie purchased
for us all spiritual benedictions and graces in this
life, all the means necessary for obtaining eternal
happiness, and eternal happiness itself in the
OF THE MASS. 53
life to come ; insomuch, that it is only in, and
through Him, that any grace or blessing is be
stowed on us by God ; or that anything we can
do, can be agreeable or acceptable to Him. In a
word, He not only prevented us from perishing
everlastingly, by delivering us from the condem
nation which we had incurred by the sin of our
first parents, and by our own sins He has more
over acquired infinite merits, by which He pur
chased for us eternal life, together with all the
graces and helps necessary for us to obtain it.
In a wortl, by the Sacrifice of the Cross, Christ
delivered us from sin and hell, and purchased for
us, mercy, grace, and salvation. In other words,
the Son of God died for us ; He made over to us
the merits of His Passion and Death ; He pur
chased for us those graces for which we pray ; His
blood continually pleads for us.
Nay, from the beginning of the world, the
Passion of Christ has ever been the great object
of the devotion of the children of God, who always
celebrated it beforehand, and expressed their faith
and confidence in it, by the offering up of bloody
sacrifices of animals.
Hence, Christ is in Scripture, called " Tho
Lamb slain from the commencement of the
world." (Apocalypse xiii. 8.) The reason of
this devotion to the future Sacrifice of the Cross
is, that ever since the time of the fall of Adam,
54 ON THE SACRIFICE
no grace could be derived to any man, but through
the channel of the merits of the future passion
and death of the Redeemer. If, then, through
the means of bloody sacrifices of animals, the
ancient just obtained a share in the future Sacri
fice of the Cross, how much more now, since
Christ has come into the world, and has offered
Himself a victim on the Cross, by which He has
reconciled us to Himself, is His Passion and
Death the fountain of life and the source of all
grace and good to mankind.
The full effects of the Sacrifice of the Cross
were, how r ever, suspended till it had been actually
offered up ; and the souls of the ancient just,
who, by believing in the future Redeemer, had
obtained admission into Limbo, were detained
there till their price of redemption had been
actually paid.
During the four thousand years that preceded
the oblation of the Victim of Calvary, all the great
events that took place on the face of the earth,
were but so many preparations for this greatest of
all events. Empires and kingdoms rose and fell
to prepare His way. AVhen God appeared to the
Patriarchs, it was to confirm them in the faith of
the Redeemer to come. When He inspired the
Prophets, it was to keep alive in His people this
faith, by pointing out to them the circumstances
of the time and place of His coming, and by por-
OF THE MASS. 55
traying His features and future actions, that He
might be the more easily recognised at His
coming. The faith in the Eedeemer to come
was the chief article of belief of the people of God
in those times. When He did come, the whole
world was reduced under one government, and
peace reigned throughout it, in order to facilitate
the propagation of the benefits of His coming.
At last, in the fulness of time, the hour for the
redemption of mankind, struck on the clock of
eternity; immediately the Lamb of God, the
august Victim, which had been long and so im
patiently expected by angels and by men, des
cended from heaven upon earth to destroy the
works of the devil. A new Victim is placed
upon a new Altar: the Cross is the altar, not
of one temple, but of the whole world, (S. Leo.)
of all generations of mankind, past, present, and
to come. The great sacrifice has been accom
plished ; we know the place, the day, and the
hour thereof. It was at Jerusalem, on Mount
Calvary, and under the canopy of heaven that it
was offered up ; but its blood lias bathed the whole
world, (Onrjcnes in Lev it J At this sight, God
and man, heaven and earth, angels and all crea
tures, were seized with grief and with joy ; with
grief for His sufferings, with joy for their happy
effects. His blood has proved beneficial to all. It
gave glory to God, and peace to mankind; for "it
56 ON THE SACRIFICE
" has pleased God to reconcile all things by Him,
" who is the Principle of life, and the firstborn from
" among the dead ; making peace through the
" blood of His Cross, both as to the things that
" are on earth, and the things that are in heaven."
(Col. i. 18, 20.)
Now the Sacrifice of the Mass is the continua
tion, the real representation, and the commemora
tion of the great Sacrifice of the Cross.
1. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the continuation
of the Sacrifice of the Cross.
In order fully to partake of the benefits of a
sacrifice, it is necessary to partake of the flesh of
the victim of that sacrifice : in other words, com
munion is an essential part of sacrifice. Among
all nations, both priests and peoples always par
took of the flesh of the victim : it is an indis
pensable condition of sacrifice ; a law revealed
from the origin of the world ; a condition imposed
upon mankind by God Himself.
It has ever been the universal conviction of
mankind, that, by partaking of the substances
that had been immolated, they communed with
the Divinity. Accordingly, St. Paul says, (1 Cor.
x. 18.) "The Jews offer sacrifices; and to partake of
" those sacrifices is to be made partakers of the altar
" on which they are offered ; to hold communion
" with God ; and to offer Him supreme ic or ship"
OF THE MASS. 57
" Tlie heathens offer sacrifice to devils ; and to eat
" of those sacrifices is to be made partakers with
" devils, and to hold communion with devils, nay,
" to offer up supreme worship to devils." There
fore St. Paul forbade the Corinthians to eat of
meats which they had reason to suspect had
been offered up to idols ; for, to partake of such
meats, u ould be to commit the crime of idolatry.
In like manner, in order to offer supreme worship
to God, to commune with God, to participate in
the merits of the Sacrifice of the Cross, the Sacri
fice of the New Law must have a communion, and
the flesh of the Victim thereof must be partaken
of. As, therefore, the Sacrifice of the Cross is the
sacrifice of all countries, of all ages, of the whole
human race, there must be a means, by which all
the successive generations of mankind maybe ena
bled to partake thereof, until the end of time.
But, as Christ was to die but once, to suffer
but once, to offer Himself, in a bloody manner,
but once, to redeem us but once, to make atone
ment for sin and satisfaction to God s justice for
us but once, how are we, who, for instance, live
upwards of eighteen hundred years after the death
of Christ, how are we to partake of the flesh of
the Victim of the Sacrifice of the Cross ? to
receive any present benefit from His atonement ?
How is the Passion of Christ to be brought near
to us, or we to it? It is not enough that the
58 ON THE SACRIFICE
Sacrifice of the Cross has been offered many years
ago ; its effects must be applied to our souls, that
we may have a share in the redemption purchased
for us. In a word, how are we to partake of the
Victim of Calvary ?
The Council of Trent explains this : " The
" almighty power and goodness of God" it says,
"7ms provided for tins, ly an incomprehensible
" design, which surpasses our weak understand-
" ings. He has perpetuated unto the end of the
" world, this self -same great Sacrifice of Calvary,
" once materially offered for the salvation of
mankind. Through His immense goodness, the
" immolated flesh of the Victim of Calvary is
"presented to us under tJie appearance of bread
" and wine : and it is declared that whoever
"refuses to partake thereof shall not have life in
" him. 1 (St. John vi. 54.) For, our Lord, being
" on the point of offering Himself a victim on the
" Cross, for the redemption of mankind; as His
" Priesthood was not to cease with His mortal
" life y He, on the vert/ night on which He was
11 betrayed, instituted and left to His Church a
"visible and unbloody Sacrifice, by wJtich the
" bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, that could be
" offered but once, might be perpetuated until the
" end of time, and its salutary virtue and efficacy
" communicated to all mankind, for the remission
" of their sins. Declaring Himself a High Priest
OF THE MASS. 59
"for ever, according to tlie order of l\Iclchiscdech,
" He offered up to Ills Eternal Father the sacri-
"fice of His Body and Blood under the appcar-
" ance of bread and wine ; and immediately
"distributed them to His apostles; constituting
" them, and their successors, His ministers, to
" continue to offer up the same Sacrifice unto the
" end of time, l)ij saying, Do this in remem-
" brance of Me. " (Council of Trent, Sess. xxii,
i.)
What, therefore, was wanting to the Sacrifice of
the Cross, is supplied at the altars of the Church.
The Mass is, therefore, a continuation of the
Sacrifice of the Cross, to enable us to partake of
the great Victim of Calvary. Hence, the Mass is
a true and real sacrifice, the same sacrifice as that
of the Cross, from which it differs only as to the
mode of oblation.
On the Cross, there were immolation and obla
tion ; in the Mass, there is no immolation, but a
second oblation of the Victim of the Cross. The
same Victim which was once offered on the Cross,
is again offered on our altars : but on the Cross,
it was only offered up ; while on our altars it is
offered up and distributed.
The actual shedding of blood is not an
essential part of sacrifice ; for the same blood,
once already offered up in sacrifice, may be again
offered up, to constitute a second distinct sacrifice.
60 OX THE SACRIFICE
Thus, tlie Jewish High Priest, on the solemn
festival of expiation, did not immolate a fresh
victim within the Holy of Holies ; but carried
with him, within the veil, the blood of the victim,
that had been previously shed on the outer altar
of holocausts, and offered it up a second time to
accomplish atonement : which second offering con
stituted of itself a sacrifice, although not accom
panied with the shedding of blood.
In like manner, Jesus Christ does not die a
second time on our altars. He does not perform
again the Sacrifice of the Cross, so as to shed His
blood and die afresh ; but the sacrifice which,
once for all, He offered on the Cross, He con
tinually renews upon the altar. The Sacrifice of
the Cross, and that of the Mass, are, therefore,
one and the same Sacrifice. First offered in
the institution of the Holy Eucharist, then con
summated on the Cross, it is perpetuated before
the mercy- scat in heaven, and on the altars of
the Church on earth : offered daily, in successive
acts, by priests continually succeeding one another,
unto the end of time, it is still one sacrifice,
even as Christ Himself, who offers it, is one.
Christ is there present, the principal author and
invisible worker, to Whom is subject all that He
wills, and to Whose command "everything is obe
dient. " The visible priest," says a Kempis,
(book iv. 5,) " is but the minister of Christ, using
OF THE MASS. 61
" the words of Christ, by the command and insti
tution of Christ." To show that it is in the
Name and Person of Christ that the visible priest
acts, he does not say : " This is the body and
" blood of Christ," but, " This is My Body and
" Blood." The secondary priest wholly disap
pears, that Christ, the principal priest, may con
vert the bread and wine into His own Body and
Blood.
Accordingly, a Kempis says : (book iv. 2,)
" As often as we repeat this mystery and receive
" the Body of Christ, so often is the Sacrifice of
" the Cross renewed, and we are made partakers
" of the merits of Christ s passion and death ;
" for the charity of Christ is never diminished,
" nor is the greatness of His propitiation ever
" exhausted. As often, therefore, as we assist at
" the Mass, it ought to appear to us as great,
" new, and delightful, as if Christ, that same day,
" first descending into the Virgin s womb, had
" been made man ; or, that hanging on the Cross,
" He was suffering and dying for the sins of the
" world."
Hence, the Mass is indispensably necessary in
the economy of our sanctification and salvation ;
for, although the Sacrifice of the Cross made full
satisfaction for our sins and paid our debts ; yet
the Mass is necessary, for the Sacrifice of Calvary
must be consummated in us, that we may derive
62 ON THE SACRIFICE
benefit from it ; its fruits must be applied to our
souls ; in a word, we must partake of the great
Victim of Calvary. The Divine Victim could not,
in His natural state, be partaken of by the faith
ful ; what then was wanting to the Sacrifice of the
Cross is, by the Holy Communion, supplied at
the altars of the Church. The Sacrifice of the
Cross is accomplished and perfected on the altars
of the Ciiurch, where Christ daily nourishes us
with the sacrament of His passion. The Sacrifice
of the Cross paid our ransom ; the Sacrifice of
the Mass imparts to each individual a share in
this payment. Thus, the Sacrifice of the Cross
becomes to us, not a mere event in history, which
took place more than eighteen hundred years ago,
but a present reality. The sacrifice of the great
Victim commenced on Calvary, but did not end
there : it commenced there, in order to continue
till the end of time. It is consummated in the
midst of us, without the shedding of blood. It
is commemorated continually, but so commemo
rated as to be really that which, after an unbloody
manner, is commemorated.
The Sacrifice of the Cross was of infinite value ;
its efficacy endures throughout all ages ; its effects
can never be exhausted. Hence a Ivempis says :
11 The charity of Christ is never diminished, nor
" the greatness of His propitiation ever exhausted."
Each successive generation of mankind, as they
OF THE MASS. 63
appear upon the stage of this world, find the
Divine banquet prepared, and are sanctified by
incorporating the flesh and blood of the Victim of
Calvary, the only universal and eternal Victim of
heaven and earth ; they thus obtain a share in
the great Sacrifice of the Cross. Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, who is both our High Priest and
Victim, who, to effect the work of our redemption,
and reconcile us with our offended Creator, offered
Himself once in a bloody manner upon the Cross,
continues to offer Himself daily upon our altars
in the Mass in an unbloody manner, by the
ministry of His priests, in order to communicate
and apply to our souls the fruits of His death.
So far, then, from the Sacrifice of the Altar
arguing, as Protestants suppose, any insufficiency
in the Sacrifice of the Cross, it, on the contrary,
demonstrates the Sacrifice of the Cross to be of
infinite value and of inexhaustible virtue ; being
capable of being continually drawn upon, daily
renewed on millions of altars, and applied for the
remission of the sins of all mankind, and for the
sanctification of their souls.
64 ON THE SACRIFICE
2. The Mass is a real representation of the
Passion and Death of Christ.
The Passion and Death of Christ are, in a lively
manner, represented to us, and all the mysteries of
our redemption are solemnly celebrated by the
separate consecration of the bread and wine, into
the Body and Blood of Christ, the true Lamb of
God, who takes away the sins of the world. He
then and there presents Himself upon our altars,
under the figure of death, that is, under the sacra
mental veils which represent His Body as delivered
up, broken, and slain for us, and His Blood as
shed for us ; for the outward appearance of bread
more naturally represents His Body ; and the out
ward appearance of wine more naturally represents
His Blood : these being separately consecrated,
and lying separate on the altar, represent the real
separation of His Blood from His Body, which
took place when He actually died on the Cross.
By this means, our holy Victim is offered up to
God, not actually dead, but under the appear
ances of death. " I saw," says St. John,
(Apoc. v. 6,) " and behold, in the midst of the
" throne, of the four living creatures, and of
" the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were
" slain ;" not actually slain, but as it were slain,
under the appearance of being slain. Thus the
OF THE MASS. 65
whole Passion and Death of Christ are solemnly
acted, as a most sacred tragedy by Himself in per
son ; here that death, which is the fountain of
all our good, is shown forth in such a manner as
not only to be kept in our remembrance, but also
to live in us, and bring forth in us the fruit of
life : here the Blood of Christ most powerfully
pleads and intercedes for us. Here, in fine, not
only the Passion and Death, but also the vic
torious Kesurrection, and triumphant Ascension
of our crucified King, are solemnly commemo
rated.
3. The J\Iass is a commemoration of the Sacrifice
of the Cross ; yet so as to be really that icliich
is commemorated.
For this end did Christ institute the Eucharis-
tic Sacrifice and Sacrament, and leave us therein
the sacred mysteries of His Body and Blood, that
we might always have before our eyes His Passion
and Death, in order to oblige us to a perpetual
gratitude for the great mystery of our redemption.
Accordingly, it is as an everlasting memorial of
His Passion and Death that we frequent the holy
Mass. Jesus Christ knew that He was liable to
be forgotten by men, or at least to be but coldly
remembered and loved by them, as years rolled on :
He therefore contrived a means, by which to live
amongst us to the end of time, and communicate
66 ON THE SACRIFICE
to us the merits of His Passion and Death ; Ly
veiling both His Divinity and Humanity from the
eyes of our senses, by the same Almighty power by
which He had veiled His Divinity, whilst living
amongst us upon earth. For, immediately after
having instituted the holy Sacrifice, He said to
His disciples; " Do this in remembrance of Me ;"
that is, continue to offer up, to partake of, and
distribute this My Body and Blood, as a memorial
of My death upon the Cross, that you may obtain
everlasting salvation. St. Paul proclaims this
same command to all generations of mankind : "As
" often," says he, " as you shall eat of this Bread,
" and drink of this Chalice, you shall always
" remember that Christ died for you :" for, " there
" is no other name under heaven, by which we
" can be saved." (1 Cor. xi. 26.) Moreover, Christ s
death upon the Cross, being the fountain of life,
and the source of all grace to mankind, all the
merits thereof would be lost to them, unless they
kept up the memory of it in their minds, by
continually commemorating it, and appropriating
to themselves the merits thereof, by the continual
offering up of the Sacrifice of the Mass. For,
how could they believe in Him, hope in Him, love
Him, and be saved by Him of whom they had lost
sight, whom they had forgotten, of whom they had
never heard, and on whom, consequently, they
could not call ? It was when about to deprive them
OF THE MASS. 67
of His visible presence, that He instituted this
Sacrifice, and commanded it to be continually
offered up, lest that they should ever forget Him,
and all He did for them. He did not wish that
there should be any other pledge than His own
divine presence in the Eucharist, to keep alive the
remembrance of Him. Each time, therefore,
that we are present at the Mass, we should assist
thereat, as we would have waited upon Him at
the Sacrifice of Calvary itself, had we been there
with a true belief in Him.
It is because Christ loves us, and desires to
be loved by us, that He wishes to be remem
bered by us, in order to impart to us His merits.
The remembrance of a person is a kind of pres
ence which is dear to love ; it is while bleed
ing and dying for us, while offering up for us
the sacrifice of our redemption, that He particu
larly wishes to be remembered by us ; for it is
then that He most effectually shows how much
He loves us, and desires to be loved by us. How,
indeed, can we remember all the torments that
He endured in order to open heaven for us, and to
merit for us the graces necessary to enable us to
arrive thither, without being convinced how sin
cerely He loves us and wishes to be loved by us ?
The numerous wounds, with which His body was
covered, are so many eloquent tongues, that pro
claim His love for us ; and can a Christian be
63 ON THE SACRIFICE
thoroughly persuaded of this His love for us,
without at least desiring to make Him a return
of love ? It is difficult to decide which is the
more criminal, to disbelieve Christ s presence in
the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or, while believing it,
not to love Him : hence St. Paul says, (1 Cor. xvi.
22,) " If any one love not our Lord Jesus Christ,
" let him be accursed."
That we may the better understand the nature
of the Sacrifice of the Mass, it is necessary to
point out wherein it differs from the Sacrifice of
the Cross.
1st. By the Sacrifice of the Cross, Christ re
deemed the world. He then and there paid its
redemption price, in His mangled flesh and
streaming blood, and in the agonies of His
Human Heart. He really suffered for us; He
really died for us ; His sufferings and death
satisfied the divine justice, and merited for us
the pardon and remission of our sins. He paid a
full price for us ; He made a perfect satisfaction
for us ; He wrought our eternal redemption.
Nothing was wanting to His Sacrifice. It was
infinite in value, and exhaustless in virtue ; and is
now the source of all grace, and the cause of our
salvation.
It is not thus with the Sacrifice of the Mass.
All its virtue flows from the Sacrifice of the
Cross. All its value consists in coming after that
OF THE MASS. 69
Sacrifice, in being commemorative of it, and in
a manner renewing it renewing in an unbloody
manner, and without suffering, on the altar, what
was done with blood and suffering upon the
Cross ; whatever force, then, the Sacrifice of the
Mass has, comes from the Sacrifice offered on
Calvary.
The second great difference between the Sacri
fice of the Cross, and that of the Mass is, that the
latter even though filled with virtue flowing from
the Cross, is not properly either satisfactory or
propitiatory. For when Christ offered Himself a
Victim on the Cross, He was a mortal man. His
acts were therefore both meritorious and satisfac
tory; but now He is immortal, and though really
present on the altar, and Himself really the
Victim that is sacrificed, yet such act is neither
meritorious nor satisfactory ; because being im
mortal and now incapable of suffering, He can
no longer merit or make satisfaction for sin. But
in another sense the Mass is propitiatory. It begs
and implores, through the merits of the Sacrifice
of the Cross, the remission of sin for the whole
world, or for those in whose special behalf it is
offered. It is also, for the same reason, satisfac
tory, because it begs or implores the remission of
the punishment of sin. All this it does, for the
sake of that pure Victim which was offered bleed
ing on the Cross, and which is continually offered
70 ON THE SACRIFICE
without blood upon the altar. When the priest,
acting as minister of Christ, offers the most holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, he performs the highest pos
sible act of worship he makes the most powerful
act of supplication ; for it is our great High Priest
that is offering Himself; it is the " Minister of
the true tabernacle" that is ministering for us ;
it is our Divine Intercessor interceding for us, the
one Mediator between God and man. The Sacri
fice of the altar is one way in which Christ fulfils
for us His office of Intercessor. In a word, the
Sacrifice of the Altar differs from the Sacrifice of
the Cross, just so far, and in such sense, as the
office which our Lord performs for us in His
glorious life in heaven, differs from the office
which He performed for us during His suffering
life on earth. Both are portions of His media
torial work. Once He offered Himself with suffer-
in * : now He offers Himself without suffering.
O O
On the Cross He redeemed us with His Blood :
on the altar, He intercedes that we may indi
vidually have part in that redemption.
The third great difference is, that the Sacrifice
of the Cross did but intercede ; it did not bestow
upon mankind the pardon which it purchased for
them ; otherwise all men would from that mo
ment have been pardoned, justified, and saved.
Christ has paid the price of our redemption ;
but for individuals to benefit by what He has
OF THE MASS. 71
done, something more is necessary on their part ;
and in order that they may do this something,
Christ does not withhold His graces. Those
graces He bestows in many ways, especially by
the sacraments. But the Sacrifice of the Mass is
not a sacrament; it does not therefore bestow
remission of sins ; it does but ask and implore it ;
it pleads most powerfully for the sinner, that he
may be brought to repentance, may make an act
of true contrition, and obtain the remission of his
sins. In this sense the Sacrifice of the Mass is a
propitiatory Sacrifice.
If we would appease the anger of God, and
deprecate His vengeance ; if we would beg His
mercy for ourselves or others, how can we more
surely move Him to pity, than by representing
before Him the Death and Passion of His beloved
Son ? But the Sacrifice of the Mass is no mere
representation of that of the Cross ; it does net
merely commemorate the death of Christ, or re
mind the Eternal Father of it, as of a thing that
happened many hundred years ago : it exhibits
it before Him ; it renews it, not merely in figure,
but really and truly, though after an unbloody
manner. Christ therein re-enacts, as in a mystery,
the sacrifice of Himself, presents Himself upon
the altar a Lamb, as it were slain, and makes
propitiation for us.
72 ON THE SACRIFICE
PRAYER.
I believe, Lord, help ray unbelief; increase
my faith, my Lord and my God : deliver me from
all disbelief, from all torpor and dulness of faith,
and from all indifference to this great mystery.
Illuminate my understanding, that I may behold
it in its proper light; strengthen me to believe
it with an undoubted faith ; for it is Thy work,
not the power of man, Thy sacred institution, not
man s invention.
Since the angels that surround the throne of
God in heaven., descend upon earth and prostrate
themselves before our altars, during the Sacred
Mysteries, through respect for the Victim which
is there immolated, with what sentiments of
reverence should we assist thereat, we who are but
dust and ashes, and whom sin has reduced to the
lowest degree of misery? Illuminate, therefore,
God, our minds, that we may behold this mys
tery of God in the light of God ; open our eyes,
enliven our faith, as to the incomprehensible
greatness of this sacred mystery; that, like the
heavenly spirits, we may assist thereat with the
same profound respect, as if we were in company
with them before the throne of God s glory in
heaven. Amen.
OF THE MASS. 73
CHAPTEE IV.
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS A TRUE AND PROPER
SACRIFICE.
" In every place there is offered to My Name a clean
"oblation." (Malacliii.il.)
"This is My Body, which is broken, which is given
" for you. This is the chalice of the New Testament, in
" My Blood, which is, which shall be, shed for many
"unto the remission of sins." (St. Matt. xxvi. 2G, 28;
1 Cor. xi. 24.)
Protestantism has taken upon itself to abolish
the great Christian sacrifice. It lias done away
with that which everywhere, and by all Chris
tians throughout the whole world, has ever been
regarded as the highest and most essential act
of Divine worship. It is of the utmost conse
quence that the nature of this tremendous change
should bo fully understood ; for it is a principal
difference between Protestantism and the Catholic
Church, that Protestantism has rejected, and the
Catholic Church retained, the holy Sacrifice of the
Mass. In punishment of their sins, strength was
given to Satan against the perpetual Sacrifice.
(Daniel viii. 12.)
We must always bear in mind that the Eucha-
74 ON THE SACRIFICE
rist is both a sacrifice and a sacrament ; its object,
as a sacrifice, is principally to worship God ; and,
as a sacrament, to bestow grace on our souls. As
a sacrifice, the Mass is available to all who join in
offering it up, or for whom, though absent, it is
offered up. As a sacrament, it is available to
those only who partake of the altar. Thus, to the
priest it is always available, both as a sacrifice
and a sacrament, because he offers it up and con
sumes it. To those who assist thereat, it is
always available as a sacrifice ; but as a sacrament,
it is only available to those who communicate.
It is here question of the Mass only as a Sacri
fice.
I explained the nature of the Sacrifice of the
Mass above; I showed it to be the channel
through which the merits of the Sacrifice of the
Cross flow into our souls. I now proceed to show
" that the Mass is itself a true and proper Sacri
fice," not merely a religious rite or ceremony repre
senting the Sacrifice of Calvary, but a true, real, and
unbloody, sacrifice ; for Jesus Christ, our Re
deemer, who is both our High Priest and Victim,
and who, to perfect the work of our redemption,
and reconcile man with his offended Creator, once
offered Himself in a bloody manner upon the
Cross, in order to communicate and apply to our
souls the fruits of His Passion and Death,
communicates Himself daily, in an unbloody
OF THE MASS. 75
manner, upon our altars in the Mass, by the
ministry of His priests.
I have shown above, from the words of Christ,
and of the prophets, that a pure and holy sacri
fice was to supersede the Jewish sacrifices ; that
it was to be everywhere celebrated throughout
the world, and never to cease, as long as the sun
and moon shall last. Now this sacrifice can be
no other than that of the Holy Mass ; for it is a
pure sacrifice, and is universal as to both time and
place. It is the chief and principal worship of the
Catholic Church, which is the only religion that
extends from the rising to the setting of the sun.
The Mass is retained and offered up by the
Greek and Oriental Churches and sects. No other
sacrifice is offered up anywhere. Therefore, as
sacrifice is never to cease until the end of the
world, and as the Mass is the only sacrifice every
where offered up throughout the world, it must
be the sacrifice foretold by Christ, and by the
prophets, and which is to last for ever.
AVc read in the twenty-fourth chapter of Exo
dus, that, immediately after the promulgation of
the law on Mount Sinai, Moses, in accordance with
the command of God, had committed to writing the
law, he ordered a sacrifice to be " offered up; and,
" having read the words of the covenant in the
" hearing of the people, he took the blood of the
" victim, and therewith sprinkled both them and
76 ON THE SACRIFICE
" the book of the law, saying, This is the blood of
(i the covenant wldcli the Lord hath made u ith you."
He thus executed God s covenant with the chil
dren of Israel. In like manner our Blessed Lord,
at the close of His mortal life, sealed the new cove
nant : for, taking the chalice, He gave it to His
apostles, saying, "Drink ye all of this; for this
" is the Blood of the New Testament) or cove-
" nant." "Do this in remembrance of Me."
Now, as the blood, with which Moses sprinkled
the people, was the blood of a victim, already
sacrificed ; so also the blood which our Lord gave
to His apostles to drink was also the blood of a
sacrifice ; that is to say, our Blessed Lord offered
Himself up in sacrifice, before giving His blood
to His disciples to drink, saying : " Drink ye all
of this;" "Do tliis in remembrance of Me."
He there and then sealed and executed, with His
blood the new and eternal covenant, and all its
promises, to mankind, and afterwards confirmed it
by His death on the Cross.
In the words of the institution of the Eucharist,
Christ says, " This is My Body which is given for
"you; This is My Blood which -is shed for you"
The shedding of the .Blood, and the giving and
the breaking of the Body, are here a present thing,
which takes place while the words are spoken ;
therefore a sacrifice was there and then insti
tuted and offered up.
OF THE MASS. 77
The use of the word " broken" and of those
others, of the bread which ice break, shows that it
is the Eucharistic bread, or the body of Christ,
under the appearance of bread, which is spoken of
by St. Paul ; for on the Cross the body of Christ
was not broken, and as bread only, could it be
broken.
Observe, moreover, that the body of Christ is
here said to be broken and given for you ; that is,
not only to be eaten by you as a sacrament ; but
offered in sacrifice to God for you.
Also, it is not of His blood, as shed on the
Cross, but as poured out from the chalice or cup,
that St. Paul speaks.
St. Paul says, (1 Cor. x. 16,) " The chalice of
" benediction, which we bless, is it not the com-
" munion of the blood of Christ ? and the bread
" which we break, is it not the partaking of the
" body of the Lord ?" The apostle here makes
use of the interrogative form of speech ; which
proves that he meant and taught the mystery
of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist ;
for this form of speech is never used, but when
the truth in question is equally admitted by him
who speaks, as well as by those to whom he speaks.
Is it not, says the apostle, the participation of the
Body and Blood of Christ ? Is it not one of the
mysteries, revealed to me from above, which I
78 ON THE SACRIFICE
have always taught both you and all nations ? is it
not a principal mystery of our common faith ?
Our Lord concluded the words of the institu
tion of the Eucharist by saying, " Do tills in
" remembrance of Me;" that is, I hereby autho
rize and command you to offer up, to partake of,
and distribute My Body and Blood, as a memorial
of My Passion and Death, In remembrance, or
for a commemoration of Me. These words per
fectly express the Catholic doctrine ; for the
Sacrifice of the Mass is a Sacrifice, commemora
tive of the Sacrifice of the Cross.
The Mosaic sacrifices represented the Sacrifice
of the Cross as future, the Sacrifice of the Mass
represents it as past; as, therefore, the Mosaic
sacrifices, although only representative of a future
Sacrifice, were true and real sacrifices ; so the
Sacrifice of the Mass, which is commemorative
of a past Sacrifice, is also a true and real sacrifice.
What our Lord bade the apostles to do, we
find them actually doing. Thus, in the Book of
their Acts, (Acts ii. 40,) we find them continuing
in the communication of the breaking of bread
and in the breaking of bread from house to liouse ;
for as yet they had no public church of their own.
Again, when it is said, in the thirteenth chapter
of the Acts, that certain prophets and doctors were
ministering to the Lord, the word ministering,
in the original Greek, properly denotes the offer-
OF THE MASS. 79
ing up of sacrifice, in the solemn ministration of
the Church.
I will not dwell further on texts of Scripture, to
prove the Mass to be a sacrifice; for, it is both
the written and unwritten word of God conjointly,
as interpreted by the lawful successors of the
apostles, the bishops of the true Church of
Christ, and not the private interpretation by every
individual, of the written word alone, that is the
rule of faith, left us by Christ. To require, then,
of a Catholic, to quote chapter and verse, in proof
of the Mass being a sacrifice, as if that kind of
proof were necessary to his position, would be to
endeavour to make him establish the Catholic faith
on Protestant grounds. The New Testament was
never intended to teach us, for the first time, what
Christ had done and said. All this had been
committed to writing, and, what is more, observed
by the Church, long before any of the Gospels had
been written, and several hundred years before the
books of the New Testament were collected into
their present form. "From the dawn of Chris-
" tianity, the Church has ever invariably been the
" teacher of the doctrine of Christ. The Church
" is the rule, appointed by Jesus Christ, by which
" we are to come to the knowledge of all the
" truths of revelation, of the inspiration of the
" Scriptures, and of the true sense and meaning
" of them. The Church is the organ of God, by
80 ON THE SACRIFICE
" which He speaks to mankind, and discovers to
" them the truths of eternity. She is the chan-
" nel by which all revealed truths are transmitted
" to them." In accordance with this divine rule,
the lawful successors of the apostles, the bishops
of Christendom, assembled at Trent in the year
A.D. 1563, having clear and full evidence of
what was then, and had always been, the unani
mous doctrine of the Universal Church con
cerning the Holy Mass, pronounced it to le a
true and proper sacrifice. (Sess. xxii.) Hence
the Mass has ever, since the origin of Chris
tianity, been believed to be a Sacrifice, and offered
up as such ; for the Church never changes her
faith, nor allows any one in her communion to
change or even question any one article of it.
Like her divine Founder, her doctrine is yesterday,
and to-day, and the same for ever. (Heb. xiii. 8.)
The doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass is, there
fore, an important portion of the "faith once
" delivered to the saints," (Jude 3) which the
Church of God has ever guarded and preserved as
the apple of her eye.
The declaration made at Trent, of the Mass
being a true and proper Sacrifice, was not the deci
sion of a few individuals, but the unanimous doc
trine of the great body of the first pastors of the
Christian Church, spread over the face of the earth ;
for the two hundred and fifty bishops assembled
OF THE MASS. 81
there were but the delegates and representatives
of all the Bishops of Christendom, by whom the
Tridentiuo decrees were accepted and confirmed ;
their decision bears the signature and seal of
the successor of St. Peter. As those bishops
differed in country, language, manners, govern
ment, worldly interests, and even in opinions
concerning matters of knowledge and learning,
when we behold them perfectly unanimous in
so important and delicate a matter, as that of
religion., are we not forced to exclaim, The fin
ger of God is here! What but the overruling
providence of God could keep perfectly united,
in one religion, a multitude of persons of all
nations, who disagreed in almost every other
respect? Is it not safer to prefer their unanimous
decision in declaring the Mass to be a true and
proper Sacrifice, to trusting to one s own private
judgment, in opposition to them ? Among those
who do not follow this rule, scarcely are two per
sons to be found, of the same nation and language,
nay, of the same family, who perfectly agree on
any one article of religion.
The body of the first pastors of the Church, in
pronouncing the Mass to be a Sacrifice, solemnly
declared and protested it to be the original doctrine,
without addition or diminution, which had been
handed down to them from the Apostles. They
all proclaimed: " So have ice received; so the
6
82 ON THE SACRIFICE
"universal Church has ever Iclicvcd ; let there,
" then, le no new doctrine admitted ; none, but
" what has Iccn handed down to us from the
" apostles." " Such is the true meaning of the
"words of Christ ; such is the meaning taught
" ly the apostles throughout the world, and
"handed down to us through the divinely ap-
" pointed channel of an universal and uninter-
" rupted tradition." Tliis doctrine lias always
been believed everywhere and by all.
Tradition is the rule, laid down by Christ,
and promulgated throughout the world by His
inspired apostles, for the preservation and per
petuation, in their purity, of all His revealed
truths, till the end of time. Now, tradition con
sists, in handing down, from generation to genera
tion, by word of mouth, or by writing, the true
interpretation and meaning of the sacred Scrip
tures, and all the truths revealed by Christ to
His apostles, which are not contained in them.
The principle upon which the rule of tradition
is founded is firmly and invariably to embrace
and adopt in every generation, the doctrine re
ceived from the preceding generation, and carefully
to transmit the same to the succeeding generation,
without addition or diminution. This princi
ple of tradition was established by the inspired
apostles, as the means for perpetuating all divine
truths, and as a barrier to prevent innovation.
OF THE MASS. 83
To confine myself to one proof, St. Paul thus
writes to St. Timothy, (2 Tim. ii. 2.) "The things
" thou hast heard from me, before many icitncsscs,
" the same commit to faithful men, icho shall be fit
11 to teach them to others." And iii. 14, " Con-
" tlnuc in tJiose things which thou hast learned
"from me, and which have been communicated to
" thce, knowing of whom thou hast learned
" them. " Thus the Bishops, the chief pastors of
the Church, are particularly charged with the
obligation of adhering to the doctrine received
from their predecessors, and of transmitting them
to their successors. St. Augustine, in the fifth
century of Christianity, bears testimony to the
fidelity with which this rule was observed in
his own, and in the preceding ages. " Quod
<( invcnerunt in ccclcsia, tcmicrunt, quod didice-
" runt, docuerunt, quod a patrilus accepcrunt,
"filiis tradiderunt." (St. Aug. 1. 2, contra Fans-
turn, c. 10.) The bishops have, in all ages, held
fast the doctrines which they found in the
Church ; they taught no others. They handed
down to their successors all the identical doc
trines they had received from their predecessors.
This is the channel through which all Christian
truths and mysteries, and, among others, that
of the Sacrifice of the Mass, have been handed
down to us from Christ and the apostles. No
84 ON THE SACRIFICE
doctrine is to be held but what dates from the
time of the apostles.
Since, then, the pastors of the second age of
Christianity believed and taught as divine truths
those doctrines only which they had learned from
the apostles, and from those appointed by them
personally, the faith of the first age of Christianity
was necessarily the same as that which the Bishops
of the second age delivered entire and uncorrupted
to the Bishops of the third age ; and the faith of
the third age, was therefore necessarily the same as
that of the two preceding ages. The same rule
has been observed in every succeeding age, till the
present day, and will continue to be so to the end
of the world.
Such is the channel by which the faith of the
Sacrifice of the Mass has been transmitted to us
from Christ and the apostles.
But what crowns, and carries to the highest
degree of certitude, the decision of the Church at
Trent, declaring the Mass to be a true aiid proper
Sacrifice, is the promise of infallibility made by
the Holy Ghost to the Church, and confirmed
by Christ: " Tliat the words once put Into her
"mouth shall nerer depart out of it ; nor out of
" the month of her seed, nor out of the month of
" her seed s seed, f)\>m henceforth and for ever."
(Isaias lix.) The seed or posterity of the Redeemer
is the Church ; the Holy Ghost here promises that
OF THE MASS. 85
the true meaning of revealed truths shall never
cease to be held and taught by the Church. This
divine promise is renewed and confirmed by Christ:
" When," says He, " the Spirit of Truth shall
11 come, lie will teach you all truth, and allde with
"you for ever." (St. John xvi. !:*, and xiv. 16.)
"Go," says He, " and teach, all nations ;" behold,
" I am with you all days, even to the end. of the
" world." (St. Mat. xxviii. 20.) If, then, Christ
Himself is to be with the successors of the
apostles till the end of time, to assist them in
teaching the nations of the earth ; if the Holy
Ghost is to descend upon them, and to abide
with them for ever, to enable them to teach all
truths, how can they teach error ? If the inspi
ration of Christ and of the Holy Ghost, does
not preserve them from error, what will ? If the
above words do not contain the promise of infal
libility, they have no meaning whatever.
A further proof of the divine origin of the faith
of the Sacrifice of the Mass, is found in the litur
gies of the primitive ages of Christianity. A
liturgy is the collection of prayers, by which, the
Christian public worship is performed.
Now, all the Liturgies of those countries in
which Christianity was established by the apos
tles personally, and which were composed w y hile
the doctrine of the Catholic Church is acknow
ledged, even by Protestants, to have been pure,
86 ON THE SACRIFICE
contain in the most expressive language the doc
trine of the Sacrifice of the Mass. For in all
these Liturgies, we find prayers corresponding
with the principal parts of the Sacrifice, as, the
prayers preparatory to it, the prayer of the invo
cation, of the ohlation, of the communion, and
of the thanksgiving. The first Liturgy was, in
accordance with the teaching of Christ, drawn up
by the apostles at Jerusalem, on Pentecost, im
mediately after the descent of the Holy Ghost ; it
was not committed to writing, but intrusted to
the memory of the inspired apostles. St. James
Major, who ruled the Church of Jerusalem during
twenty-nine years, invariably administered the
Holy Eucharist according to the form agreed upon
between the other apostles and himself; the other
apostles taught this Liturgy to the bishops and
priests whom they ordained, and established it in
all the churches they founded throughout the
Eoman Empire. The Liturgies frequently served
as a creed ; and any doctrine not conformable with
them was immediately rejected with horror. Hence
the axiom : the form of prayer is the rule of faith.
" Lex omndi, lex crcdcndi." During the first four
centuries of Christianity, the Liturgies were not
committed to writing, but continued to be in
trusted to the memory of the bishops and priests;
" mysteria chartis non committcnda ; sit memoria
t{ vobis codex :" for so astounding to the ears of
OF THE MASS. 87
the heathens, would the Christian mysteries have
sounded, that they would have created in their
minds an invincible prejudice against the Chris
tian religion itself. The mysteries were the last
thing taught to catechumens, immediately hefore
baptism, when their minds and hearts were, by
previous instruction, duly prepared to believe and
reverence them.
It was not till the year A.D. 431, while assem
bled at the General Council of Ephesus, that the
Bishops of Christendom came to the resolution of
committing to writing the Liturgies of all the
different Churches, as the reasons which had
hitherto prevented their publication no longer
existed, and as there then existed other stronger
reasons, why they should no longer be intrusted
solely to the memories of the bishops and priests.
When, then, the Liturgies appeared in writing,
they were all found perfectly to agree with each
other in essentials. The meaning of the prayers
that preceded, accompanied, and followed the
Eucharistic Consecration was identical in them
all.
They clearly expressed, the unbloody Sacrifice,
the Victim, the invocation, the oblation, the
change of substance, the real Presence, and adora
tion. Those Liturgies were substantially identical
with the original Liturgy drawn up at Jerusalem,
immediately after Pentecost; they all denoted a
88
ON THE SACRIFICE
common origin ; they all bore, in their principal
features, a perfect resemblance, and, if I may use
the expression, a family likeness.
If, then, notwithstanding the changes to which
the original Liturgy, composed at Jerusalem,
was exposed, during 431 years, from having been
translated into the languages of all the different
nations that composed the Roman Empire, yet,
on these Liturgies being committed to writing,
they were all found clearly to express the
faith of the Sacrifice of the Mass, this unifor
mity must have proceeded from its divine and
apostolical origin. Could any other cause have
united all the national Churches of the world
in precisely the same faith, and in the scrupulous
profession of it, under the most trying circum
stances ?
Moreover, the faith of the Sacrifice of the
Mass is not peculiar to the Catholic Church : it
is also professed by all the Greek and Oriental
Churches, and by the different sects that have,
from time to time, separated from them; inso
much that the faith of the Sacrifice of the Mass
is unanimously professed by all Christian nations
whatever, with the exception of the comparatively
few who inhabit the northern parts of Europe.
The Greek schism, which commenced A.D. 891,
was finally consummated shortly after the Council
of Florence, in 1439; since then the Greek
OF THE MASS. 89
Church has ever remained separate from the
Catholic Church. Some of the Greek and Eastern
sects had separated from the Greek Church in
the fourth and fifth centuries. At the present
day, we distinguish in the East, the Melchite,
or common Greeks of Turkey, the Armenians, the
Jacobites, the Christians of St. Thomas in India,
the Copts, and the Ethiopians in Africa, all of
whom have different Liturgies ; yet they all offer
up the Mass, as a Sacrifice, with as much firm
ness of faith as we Catholics do. There are,
under the Russian and Ottoman sceptres, up
wards of sixty millions of persons belonging to the
Greek Church, all of whom profess the Mass to
he a sacrifice. As all those churches and sects
have been totally separated from the Catholic
Church, some eight hundred and ninety years,
and others fourteen hundred years, it is impos
sible that they should have derived any doctrines
or practices from the Catholic Church since the
time of their separation from it ; and divided,
as they have been, among themselves, they cannot
have combined to adopt the doctrine of the
Sacrifice of the Mass. On the other hand, since the
rise of Protestantism, several attempts have been
made, by the Lutherans of Germany, and by the
Calvinists of Holland, to draw some or other of the
Oriental Churches over to their novel creeds ; but all
in vain. Councils were held at Constantinople and
90 ON THE SACRIFICE
in Palestine to protest against all those innova
tions. Anathemas were pronounced against all
who denied the existence of Purgatory, of the
seven sacraments, and of the Mass, as a sacrifice.
The institution of the apostles, and their authority,
which is equally sacred, in the eyes hoth of
Catholics and of all ancient heretics and schis
matics, can alone assign a sufficient reason for so
perfect a uniformity among them, on the subject
of the Sacrifice of the Mass. That not only do
the original orthodox Liturgies, but also those
of the most ancient heretical and schismatical
sects, perfectly agree in the prayers that precede,
accompany, and follow the consecration, and
that they all express, in the clearest and most
energetic terms, the belief of the existence of the
Sacrifice of the Mass, of the real Presence, of
Transubstantiation, and adoration, is satisfactorily
proved, by the following extracts from their
respective Liturgies.
1. As to the Liturgies of the Western Church.
In the ancient Latin Liturgy, drawn up by Pope
Gelasius, A.D. 450, and introduced into the
British Isles, A.D. 595, at the time of the conver
sion of the Anglo- Saxons to Christianity, which
for many centuries has been in use in France,
Germany, and Spain, and which is still the
Liturgy of the whole Western or Latin Church,
we read the following invocation : "In compliance
OF THE MASS. 91
" with tlie command of our Saviour, we offer to
" Thee, God, this bread and this chalice, giving
" Thee thanks for allowing us to exercise the
"priesthood in Thy Presence. "We heseech Thee
" to accept these offerings, made in honour of
" Christ ; and to send down on this Sacrifice the
" Holy Ghost, that the bread may lecome the Body,
" and the wine, the Blood of Christ. " After the
consecration we read : " We offer to Thy Supreme
" Majesty, this pure Host, this Holy Host, this
"spotless Host" The words, oblation,- offering,
and Host, are here synonymous with the word
" sacrifice."
In the abridgment of the Liturgy introduced
into the primitive Christian Churches of Koman
Gaul, by SS. Irensous and Photinus, and preserved
among the writings of St. Gregory of Tours, we
read the following extract : " The oblation is con-
" secrated on the patena. The angel of God
" descends on the altar, as it did on Christ s
" monument, at His resurrection, and blesses the
" Host ; the clergy, in a suppliant attitude, pre-
" viously sing this anthem : We humbly entreat
" Thee, God, to accept, bless, and sanctify
" this Sacrifice, that it may become for us the
"Body and Blood of Christ. May the Holy
" Ghost, Thy eternal co-operator, descend on this
" Sacrifice, that this bread and wine, being
"changed into the Body and Blood of Christ,
92 ON THE SACRIFICE
" wliicli wo hero offer for our sins, ma} 7 save us by
" their merits."
In the Gallico- Gothic Liturgy, of the seventh
century, we read the following prayer, preparatory
to communion : " Fulfilling the sacred solemni-
" tics, according to the rite of the Ilii/h Priest
t: Mekliised ( ch, we entreat of Thee, God, the
" grace worthily to receive the bread changed into
11 the Body of Christ, and to drink out of the
" chalice, the Sftnic Blood that flowed from
" Christ s s nl on the Cm<w." To make an
offering, according to the rite of the High Priest,
Melchiscdech, undoubtedly means to offer up
sacrifice.
I now come to the original Greek and Orien
tal Liturgies, genuine copies of which are pre
served in the French Imperial Library, Richelieu
Street, Paris. In the year 1G70, Colbert, the
great Prime Minister of State, of Louis XIV.,
King of France, sent to the East to collect Greek
and Oriental manuscripts of all kinds, Yansleb,
a German Lutheran, thoroughly versed in the
Greek and Oriental languages. After having
travelled through the whole of the Levant, and
visited particularly all the ancient monasteries,
which were the principal depots of ancient lore,
this intelligent and indefatigable traveller returned
to France, with five hundred manuscripts of all
sorts, among which are copies of all the original
OF THE MASS. 93
Christian Liturgies of the different churches.
From this source did Nicole, Renaudot, Lebrun,
Trevcrne, and other champions and defenders of
the Catholic faith, draw their invincible proofs of
the divine and apostolical origin of all the Catholic
doctrines, rejected by Protestantism.
In the Liturgy of St. John of Jerusalem we
read the following offertory : " We offer to Thee,
" God, this redoubtable and uiibloody Sacrl-
"fice." In the Liturgy of Constantinople, first
called that of the apostles, and afterwards that of
St. Chrysostom, we read the following offertory :
" Receive us, Lord, at Thy altar, according to
" Thy great mercy, that we may be worthy to
" offer to Thee this reasonable and unbloody
" Sacrifice for our sins, and for the ignorances of
" the people." Having pronounced the words of
the institution of the Eucharist, (which are not
omitted in any of the Liturgies,) the priest, bow
ing down, secretly says : " "We offer to Thee,
" God, this reasonable and vnblooJy sacrifice, and
" entreat Thee to change the bread into the prc-
" clous Body of Christ, and the wine into Ills
"precious Blood" The Liturgy of Constanti
nople, from which the above extract is taken, is
that made use of by all the Creeks resident in the
West, the Mingrelians and Georgians, the Bul
garians, Muscovites, and other Russians, and the
modern Christian Melcliites, and by all those
94 ON THE SACRIFICE
who recognize the authority of the Greek Schis
matic Patriarchs of Alexandria, Jerusalem, and
Antioch.
In the Liturgy of Alexandria, composed by the
Evangelist St. Mark, and also called that of St.
Cyril, we read the following preparatory prayer :
" By the power of the Holy Spirit, render us
" worthy to offer up to Thee this sacrifice of bene-
" diction." At the approach of the Holy Com
munion, the priest makes the following act of
faith : "I believe, and I will believe, to the last
" breath of my life, that this is the life-giving
" Body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
" which He assumed of the Virgin Mary." He
" bore a good testimony before Pontius Pilate,
t( and of His own accord delivered Himself up to
" death on the Cross, for us all."
In the Syriac Liturgy, called that of St. James
the Apostle, which is the most common and most
ancient of all the Liturgies, we read the following
preparatory prayer for the sacrifice : "0 God, who
" in Thy mercy didst accept the sacrifices of the
" ancient just, accept aho our sacrifice, and
"favourably listen to our prayers." After the
invocation, the deacon repeats the following
prayer: " Kfcss its again and again, by ihis holy
"oblation, In/ thin propitiatory sacrifice." Then,
addressing the people, he says: "Bow down your
" heads before the God of mercy, before His pro-
OF THE MASS. 95
" pitiatory altar, before the Body and Blocd of
t( our Saviour."
In the Nestorian Clialdaic Liturgy, the Priest,
at the offertory, says : " May Christ, who was
" immolated for our salvation, and who ordered
"us to commemorate His death and resurrection,
" receive this sacrifice, presented ly our unworthy
"hands." "May the Lord grant our requests;
" may He look favourably on our sacrifice, conde-
"scend to receive our oblation t and bless our priest-
" hood. May the Holy Spirit of God repose on
" the offering of Thy servants ; may He bless and
"sanctify it; and, since Thou hast called me to
" Thy pure and holy altar, to offer up to Thee
" tltis holy and living sacrifice, may He dispose
" me to receive this gift worthily."
In the Armenian Liturgy we read the following
offertory of a Mass for the dead : " Holy Father,
" lover of men, receive this sacrifice in behalf of
"the departed; place their souls amongst the
" saints in Thy heavenly kingdom ; may Thy
" divinity be appeased by this sacrifice, which we
"offer to Thee with faith, and may it grant rest
"to their souls." During the distribution of the
Holy Communion, a canticle is sung, which,
among other orthodox sentiments, contains the
following: "This is the Body of Christ; this
" chalice is His Blood of the New Testament ;
" Christ, the Word of God, is here present. He
96 ON THE SACRIFICE
" is, at the same time, sitting at the right hand
" of His Eternal Father in heaven, and offered up
" in sacrifice in the mi 1st of us."
Most undoubtedly, these Liturgies, committed
to writing at the commencement of the fifth cen
tury, contain the essential prayers, offered up at
the altar, by the bishops and priests of the four
preceding centuries of Christianity. The invari
able agreement of all these different liturgies,
their perfect uniformity in showing us throughout
the Christian world, the oblation, the Victim, the
unbloody sacrifice, the invocation asking the
change of substance, the adoration and Divine
Presence, could not have proceeded from the same
cause, a cause equally imperative and obligatory
upon all, namely, that of diriiie institution. Unless
the apostles had expressly taught, both by word
and by example, that those dogmas should be ex-
pressL d in the celebration of the sacred mysteries,
would they, could they have been found in all the
liturgies of the Christian world, on their first
appearance in writing ?
The ancient liturgies, have now passed in
review before us : we have everywhere beheld the
altar, the oblation, the immolation of the victim,
the unbloody sacrifice ; we have listened to the
invocation, asking the change of substance, which
supposes, on the one hand, the real Presence, and
on the other hand, adoration.
OF THE MASS. 97
From north to south, from east to west, from
the sandy scorching deserts of Africa to the
frozen forests of Germany, from beyond the rivers
Tigris and Euphrates to the Pillars of Hercules,
(the Straits of Gibraltar,) we have heard identical
words, expressive of the faith of the Sacrifice of
the Mass, and of the real Presence, issuing from
all sacerdotal lips, and, even with greater energy
in the Oriental than in the Latin Churches. We
have beheld all Christians approaching the altar
with faith, with awe, and with adoration. Such
was the universal belief, such the universal and
daily practice of the Church in the golden ages of
Christianity. The study of the Greek and Orien
tal Liturgies opened the eyes of the traveller
Vansleb to the truth of the existence of the Sacri
fice of the Mass, and of all the other Catholic
doctrines rejected by Protestants, and determined
him to embrace the Catholic faith. He died a
Dominican friar.
Christ, therefore, at His last supper, on the eve
of His Passion, instituted a true and proper sacri
fice, as a continual memorial of His death ; that
His followers might have a sacrifice, at which they
might assist in order to give worthy praise, adora
tion, and thanksgiving to God ; to return to Him
acceptable thanks ; and daily to apply to their souls,
the fruits of His Passion and death, as well for the
remission of their sins, as for the obtaining of all
7
98 ON THE SACRIFICE
good from Him, for botli time and eternity. This
is the faith once dcUcered by the Apostles to the
Saints; (St. Jude, 3.) once put into the mouth of the
Church ; and which is not to depart from it, from
henceforth and for ever ; this is the faith preached
by the apostles to all nations, and handed down
to us by the divine rule of tradition, from genera
tion to generation, without addition or diminution.
But it is not enough, barely to believe the truth
of this great mystery ; our practice must coincide
with our belief : we must respect its holiness, and
endeavour to avail ourselves of the benefits which
it is destined to confer on us. Let us then im
plore the Spirit of God, " without which, no one
can understand the things that are of God," to
set the truth of this sacrifice before our eyes in
its proper light, make us believe it with an un
doubted faith, and constantly influence our con
duct towards it.
" Je ne sals quelle impression auront faite sur
" vous les extraits quo vous vencz de voir. Je
" vous avouerai franchement cello quo j en ai
" reeue. D abord ils m ont convert de confusion
" a mes propres yeux ; et avec ma condamnation,
" j y ai trouve cello du plus grand nombre de ce
" quo nous sommes aujourd hui de Catholiques.
" Quelle foi dans ces premiers Chretiens, les uns
" si voisins de la revelation et de ses prodiges, les
" autres do scs temoins ! quelle conviction de ses
OF THE MASS. 99
" dogmes et de leur divine origin c ! quelle energie
"pour les exprimer ! quel concours, quelle piete
" et quel tremblement a la fois dans la participa-
" tion aux saints mysteres ! quel zele a s en con-
" server digues ! quel empressement a y retourner
"encore! II semble qu ils n habitent plus la
" terre ; ils y vivent commes des anges, meprisant
" tout ce qui flatte les sens : honneurs, richesses,
" plaisirs. Les douleurs, les tonrmens, la mort
" meme, rien de ce qui se passe, no les touche ;
" 1 eternite, le ciel, tel est le but qu ils fixent : les
" bonnes oeuvres, des moeurs pures, la priere et
" 1 usage des sacremens, sont les moyens qu ils
" prennent pour y arriver. Et nous, ennms degen-
" eres d une race si sainte, ou en sommes-nous ?
" que faisons-nous ? Tiedes et laclies lioritiers de
" leur nom, et de leur croyance, nous n avons pres-
" que plus rien de leurs vertus. Le monde, le plaisir
" et les affaires emportent le temps et les pensees
" de la plupart. Incredulite dans les uns, stu-
" piditede foi dans les autres, indifference presque
" en tous, jamais on ne vit plus de cliristianisme
" et moins de Chretiens. Yoyez leur repugnance
"pour la table sacree ; plusieurs 1 abandonnent
" tout-a-fait ; plusieurs s y trainent d annee en
" annee par un reste d habitude, et une sorte de
" decence : la tiedeur, 1 irreflexion les y accom-
" pagne ; le dirai-je ? et de trop souvent meme ceux
" qui montent a 1 autel. Car les y apercoit-on
100 ON THE SACEIFICE
(t saisis cle tremblement ct cle frayeur ? A la pre-
" cipitation clcs uns, a la froide accoutumance des
" autres, dirait-on qu ils songent seulement au
"grand ministere qu ils remplisscnt, a la victime
" divine qu ils vont offrir pour le salut dcs peuples,
" au brasier ardent qui est entre leurs mains, et
"qui va passer a leur coour, sans 1 echaufer ?
" Peuples mallicureux ! Lien plus malheureux pre-
" tros ! d ou provient cctto degeneration univer-
"selle? J en connois bicn la racine ; et malgre
<( les pretentious du siecle, je ne craindrai pas de
" la nommer : elle tient 11 notre profonde ignorance.
" Nous n ambitionnons, nous n apprecions des
" connoissances quo sur les objets qui passent :
" nous sornmcs sans interet pour ce qui ne doit
" fmir jamais. Xos jugeincns, nos gouts, nos
" affections, notre vie entiere n estqu une meprise
" complete, un funcste contre-sens, de la jeunesse
" au tombcau. curvce in terras aniince ct ca lcs-
" Hum inancs ! Quelle sera done la fin de ce
" desordrc irreligieux? Ou nous mene ce renver-
(l scment de la raison ? Je ne sais : mais il est
" impossible de ne pas se souvenir que 1 extinction
" do la foi, suivant ce qui est ecrit, doit un jour
" annoncer aux clioses terrcstres leur terme."
(Trcvcrnc, Bishop of Strasbourg, in 1820.)
OF THE MASS. 101
CHAPTEE V.
ON THE FRUITS OF THE MASS.
" He that hath not spared even His own Son, how
"hath He not also with Him, given us all things?"-
Rom. viii. 32.
From what I have said above concerning the
Mass, the reader will naturally suppose the fruits
thereof to be very great. Nothing, indeed, can
exceed the blessings which we might derive from
it, if we made the best use of it. It is an oblation
in which God delights, in consideration of which,
He is prepared to grant us any graces. Let us
descend to particulars.
The Council of Trent, in declaring, that " by
" means of the M ass, we obtain a share in the fruits
"of the Sacrifice of the Cmss," did but define
against Protestants what had ever been believed,
taught, and acted upon by all, everywhere through
out the Universal Church from the very dawn and
origin of Christianity. The council in this deci
sion, acted upon the rule, that we are not to admit
any doctrine which has not been clearly handed
down to us from the apostles, by an universal and
uninterrupted tradition .
I will here confine myself to the testimonies of
102 OX THE SACRIFICE
two principal witnesses of the benefits to be
derived from the Mass.
St. Chrysostom, A.D. 450, " declares that the
" Sacrifice of the Mass is of the same efficacy as
"that of the Cross." And St. Thomas Aquinas
witnesses, that all the benefits which Christ gained
to us by His Death, are to be found in the Mass.
"Whatever," says he, "are the effects of the
" Sacrifice of the Cross, are also the effects of the
" Sacrifice of the Mass."
Our Saviour assures us that, whatever we ask
the Father, in His name, will be granted to us.
(St. John xvi.) How much more may we hope to
obtain our wants when we offer Jesus Christ Him
self, when His death, which is the fountain of all
our good, is shown forth in such a manner as not
only to be kept in our remembrance, but also
to live in us, and to bring forth in us the fruits
of life. There the blood of Christ most power
fully pleads for us; and not only the Passion and
death of Christ, but also the victorious resurrection
and triumphant ascension of our crucified King
are here solemnly commemorated.
The fruits of our Saviour s passion and death
upon the Cross, are thus applied to our souls by
the Mass. Jesus Christ died upon the cross for
all mankind in general; that is, He offered to God
a full and ample satisfaction for the injury done
Him by the sins of the world. In the Mass, by
OF THE MASS. 103
mystically renewing and presenting to His Father
the death He suffered on the cross, He obtains His
acceptance of the same, for the actual benefit of
those in particular, for whom the Mass is offered
up ; by this means, those graces which He
merited for mankind in general by His death, are
actually applied to and bestowed upon our souls
in such abundant manner, as our wants require.
The Old Testament was a figure of the New
Testament, and the most remarkable events
recorded in the former, are so many prophetic
figures of what w r as to happen in the latter. Thus
the deliverance of the Children of Israel out of
the slavery of Egypt, was a figure of the redemp
tion of man by Christ, from the bondage of
Satan and sin ; and the means ordered by the
Almighty, for their deliverance, were a figure of
what was to be afterwards done by our Redeemer
for the deliverance of all mankind, from a far
worse slavery ; for as the Israelites were delivered
from the Egyptian bondage by the offering up,
in all their families, of the Sacrifice of an un
spotted Lamb, and by sprinkling the door-posts
of their houses with its blood, as a warning to the
destroying angel not to injure anyone therein,
and by the partaking of its flesh : so, we are
delivered from the slavery of Satan and sin, by
Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, being offered
up as a sacrifice for us ; by the sprinkling of
101 ON THE SACRIFICE
whose blood, our souls are rescue I from tlie power
of Satan, and from the second death; of whose
Sacred Flesh we are commanded to partake, in
the Divine Mysteries, as an earnest of the share
we have in Him, and in His sacrifice, as a sove
reign means of communicating to our souls the
fruits of our redemption, and all the graces pur
chased for us by our Redeemer, as a pledge of our
eternal happiness, and as a preparation and a
viaticum for the great journey we are to make out
of the Egypt of this world, to the true land of
promise, to heaven the land of the living.
Hence, St. Chrysostom says : " If the blood of
" the figurative lamb protected the houses of the
"Israelites, how much more will the Blood of the
true Lamb of God protect the souls of those
" who are sprinkled therewith !"
As a Sacrifice the Mass is a standing memorial
of our redemption ; a daily communion with one
another, by joining together in the solemn wor
ship of sacrifice, as the children of God had
always done from the beginning a daily means
of uniting ourselves in those mysteries with
Jesus Christ our high priest and victim, and of
coining to God with Him and through Him.
It is also the victim and sacrifice of the Xcw
Testament, by means of winch we are enabled
to give worthy praise and homage to God; to
return Him acceptable thanks, to obtain the
OF THE MASS. 105
remission of all our sins, and all good both for
time and eternity.
Those four great and indispensable duties, cor
respond with the same number of God s most
prominent perfections under which He appears to
us. For He is our Sovereign, our Benefactor, our
Judge, and the Source of all our good. Inasmuch
as Ho is the Supreme Euler of Heaven and earth,
we are obliged to acknowledge Hi s supreme and
inalienable dominion over us, and our total and
essential dependence on Him : which duty we
perform by adoration: inasmuch as He is our
Benefactor, we are bound to manifest our deep
sense and gratitude for the numberless blessings,
favours, mercies, benefits and graces which we are
continually receiving from Him : this duty we
perform by tJianksyiuing ; inasmuch as He is our
Judge, it behoves us to appease His wrath which
we are continually incurring by our sins : this we
do by satisfaction; and inasmuch as He is the
Source of all our good, it is to Him alone that we
should have recourse in all our necessities, spiri
tual and temporal : and this we do by impetrailon.
Under the Mosaic dispensation, there were four
kinds of sacrifices, corresponding with the four
great duties which we owe to God, viz., holocausts,
sin-offerings, thank-offerings, and peace-offerings;
whereas, in the New Law, the Sacrifice of the Mass
answers all the ends and purposes of those .four
106 ON THE SACRIFICE
kinds of sacrifice, and in an infinitely superior
manner ; nay, in a manner worthy of God.
Thus, by means of the Mass, we are enabled to
offer up to God the highest adoration, the most
acceptable thanksgiving, the most powerful propi
tiation for our sins, and the most effectual impe-
tration for obtaining all our wants, spiritual and
temporal.
1st. As to Adoration : as rational creatures,
made by God, and for God, we owe to Him our
homages of adoration, praise, and glory, as to our
Maker, our first beginning and last end, our Su
preme Good, our chief felicity, and perfect hap
piness. To Him do we owe all the love and
affections of our hearts and souls ; we are indis
pensably obliged to dedicate and consecrate our
selves for ever to His service.
But how little is all that we can offer to Him of
our own ! how little is all we can do of ourselves,
when compared with the homage, adoration, praise
and thanksgiving, due to the infinite majesty of
God ! If the whole creation could be made a
holocaust or burnt-offering for the glory of God,
it would be no more in His eyes, than if a grain
of chaff were to be burnt in honour of some
earthly monarch ; for the whole creation compared
to God, is less than a grain of chaff compared
to an earthly monarch, or even to the whole
creation. How greatly then are we indebted to
OF THE MASS. 107
the Son of God, who, by the institution of the
Sacrifice of the Mass, has furnished us with a
means of rendering to God the full homage due to
Him, an homage worthy of Him ; the Mass being
a sacrifice of infinite value, by reason of the infinite
dignity of Him who is both Priest and Victim
therein.
All the honour that the angels and saints in
heaven have ever given to God, or will ever give
Him by their adorations and praises all the
honour that men upon earth have ever given, or
will give to God, by their acts of religion, their
good works, their penances, and even by suffering
martyrdom to testify their fidelity to Him, will
never approach, nor bear comparison with the
honour that God receives from one offering up of
the Sacrifice of the Mass. For all the honour
that can be rendered by creatures to God, is but a
limited honour ; whereas, God receives in the holy
Sacrifice of the Mass an unbounded, unlimited,
and infinite honour, in every respect worthy of
Him.
The eternal Son of God made man, there and
then humbles Himself in the most profound man
ner, by assuming the forms of bread and wine,
and by offering Himself up by the hands of the
Priest, under the appearance of death, on purpose
by the humiliation of His humanity, which re
ceives infinite value from its union with the
103 ON THE SACRIFICE
Divinity, to render to His Eternal Father for us,
and with us, the most perfect homage. When
therefore we join our intention with that of our
High Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ, and offer
this holy sacrifice to God in acknowledgment of
His sovereign dominion over us, and in protesta
tion of our total subjection to Him, w r e do Him
sovereign honour ; we give Him perfect honour
and glory, the greatest that is possible for a crea
ture to give to his Creator. It is then that we
give Him the honour due to His name, it is then
that we can say to God with David : " According
" to Thy name, Lord, so also is Thy praise."
(Psalm xlvii.)
2nd. By the Sacrifice of the Mass, we are
enabled to render to God acceptable, equivalent,
and worthy thanks. One of the principal duties
which God requires of us, is to have a just value
of the favours, bounties, and mercies He bestow r s
on us, and a grateful sense of our obligations to
Him. Hence the Holy Ghost says, by the mouth
of the royal Prophet: "The sacrifice of praise
" shall honour Me ; and this is the way by which
" I shall show them My salvation." (Psalm xlix.)
Christ Himself said to the Samaritan, whom He
had just cured of the leprosy, and who came and
prostrated himself before Him, giving Him thanks,
Wore there not ten made clean, and where are
" the nine ? There is no one found to return and
OF THE MASS. 109
" give glory to God but this stranger." " Go thy
" way," said He, " for thy faith has made thee
" whole." (St. Luke xvii. 1G.)
And St. Paul says : (1 Thess. v. 18,) " In all
" things give thanks to God in Christ Jesus,
" for this is His will concerning you all."
Moreover, he that expects a continuance of
God s favours and benefits, must, as a means
to obtain them, return thanks for those already
received. But what do we not owe to God for our
creation and redemption, for our preservation and
vocation, and for so many other benefits, especially
that eternal free love of His for us, which is the
source of all these benefits ?
How little is all that our store can afford
to v. ards discharging this immense debt ! how good
then has God been to us in furnishing us, by
means of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, with a standing
fund to enable us to discharge this infinite debt,
and to render to Him a full and adequate thanks
giving, worthy of Him ! In order to enable us
to defray this debt, the Son of God Himself
became man to make Himself our Priest and
Victim ; and in that quality, to offer up in our
behalf a worthy sacrifice of thanksgiving, no less
infinite, by reason of the dignity of His per
son, than those favours and mercies for which He
makes this return of thanks for us : this sacrifice
of thanksgiving He once offered upon the Cross,
HO ON THE SACRIFICE
and offers daily in the Eucharist, upon a million
of altars throughout the world ; in which offering,
He expects that His whole family of heaven and
earth should join with Him, that with Him and
through Him, they may make a daily return of
worthy thanks for all God s blessings bestowed
upon both Him and them.
3rd. The Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of
Christ, is also a sin-offering, a sacrifice of pro
pitiation for obtaining mercy and pardon for our
sins. It was principally to remit and destroy sin,
that this sacrifice was instituted.
For this purpose was this sacrifice offered on
the Cross ; for the same purpose is it still con
tinued to be offered on our altars. " This (said
" Christ Himself) is My Blood of the New Testa-
" incut which shall be shed for many for the
" remission of sins.
The debt contracted to the divine justice by sin
was infinite ; nothing that any mere man, or
even all mankind put together, could do or suffer,
for the expiation thereof, would bear any kind of
proportion with it, or go any part of the way
towards the canceling of it. Therefore did the
Son of God assume a body, in order to become
our victim. (Psalm xxxix.) This Body He
offered in sacrifice upon the Cross for the sins
of all mankind ; with this, He paid our ran
som, and completely redeemed us : this same
OF THE MASS. Ill
Body He has bequeathed to us in the Sacrament
and Sacrifice of the Blessed Eucharist, in which
as our Priest and Victim, He daily appears before
His Father in our behalf, and presents His Pas
sion and Death to Him to obtain the forgiveness
of our sins. The Sacrifice of the Eucharist is
therefore truly propitiatory, in virtue of the Blood
of the New Testament, the fruit of which it applies
to our souls.
Accordingly, the Council of Trent declares, that
"the Almighty, being appeased by the oblation of
" the Holy Sacrifice, imparts the gift of repentance,
" and forgives all sins and crimes however great."
(Sess. xxii. 6.)
What an advantage it is to our souls, to have
daily celebrated amongst us, this propitiatory
sacrifice, in which the Lamb that taketh away
the sins of the world, presents to His Eternal
Father upon our altars, under the mystical veils
that represent His Death, His Body as broken
and slain for us, and His Blood as shed for our
sins; and in which, with His Body and Blood, He
intercedes to obtain mercy and pardon for us !
What sinner can despair of the forgiveness of his
sins, (if, like the prodigal child, he desires to return
home to his true Father,) when lie sees here before
him, as it were, bleeding upon the altar, the Vic
tim, by whose blood all our sins were cancelled;
when he sees the great High Priest of God and
112 ON THE SACRIFICE
man, offering a sacrifice for the remission of his
sins ? " Let us therefore, go with confidence, to
" this throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
" and find grace in seasonable aid." (Heb. iv. 16.)
We stand in great need of this sacrifice of pro
pitiation ; we owe a great debt to the Divine
justice for our numberless sins. Let us recount
to ourselves, in the bitterness of our souls, all our
years past. Did we not very early break through
our baptismal engagements, profane God s temple
within us, affront the Spirit of God, and tread
under our feet the Blood of the Son of God ? Have
not our sins been multiplied from that time till
now ? " What shall we offer to the Lord that is
" worthy of Him ? Wherewith, shall we kneel
"before the high God?" (Mich. vi. 6.) Neither
holocausts, nor thousands of rams, nor yet our
own. Uootl, can expiate our guilt. The Blood of
Christ alone would do it ; with this, we kneel before
the Most High, when we assist at the Sacrifice of
the Altar, where this blood is applied to our souls.
Nor is this blood applicable to our own souls only:
the inexhaustible treasures of mercy, which are
laid open in those sacred mysteries, give us a con
fidence to join all here in a body, with our great
Advocate and High Priest at our head, and to
plead for mercy through this same blood for our
brethren, both living and dead, that we may
obtain for them all, the remission of their sins,
OF THE MASS. 113
and the discharge of all the debts and punish
ments due to them.
The Sacrifice of the Mass does not actually
remit sin, like the Sacrament of Penance. It
only renders the Almighty propitious to sinners,
by presenting to Him His only-begotten Son,
who offered Himself up a Victim on the altar of
the Cross for their salvation ; and who, by con
tinuing this same Sacrifice, is continually making
intercession in their behalf : the Almighty, being
thus propitiated, becomes merciful to them, and
grants them the virtues of contrition and com
punction. He also inspires them with a horror
of their sins, opens their eyes to the fatal conse
quences thereof, and inspires them with resolu
tions of amendment of life. Being thus, through
the Sacrifice of the Mass, prepared and disposed
for the forgiveness of their sins, they have re
course to the Sacrament of Penance, in which
they receive the full remission of their sins, and
final reconciliation with God.
Fourthly, and lastly, The Sacrifice of the
Mass is an impetratory sacrifice. The Eucharist
is offered up, not only for the adoration and praise
of the Almighty, in thanksgiving for all His
benefits, and for the remission of our sins ; but
also for obtaining all graces and blessings from
God, through the Blood of Jesus Christ. " No
"one can come to the Father but by Him." (St.
8
ON THE SACRIFICE
John xiv. 6.) But here in the Mass we approach
God by Him, and with Him, as to our High Priest
and Victim. Christ says, (St. John xvi. 23.)
" If yon ask the Father anything in Mij name
" He will give it you." How much more salutary
is this sacrifice of supplication, in which we not
only ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, hut come
\\itli His Sacred Blood, before the throne of grace,
where He Himself pleads (in Person) for us !
Christ is continually at the right hand of His
Eternal Father, pleading for us : "who is at the
" right hand of God, making intercession for us."
(Rom. viii. 34.) This, He particularly does
during the offering up of the Holy Sacrifice. Our
creed represents Him as sitting on the right hand
of God in heaven. During the Mass, He, as it
were, stands up, and shows His Eternal Father
His wounds, which He has received for our sakes ;
upon which the Father, calling to mind the
perfect obedience of His only-begotten Son, is
affected, and beams upon us a look of mercy and
of compassion.
If Christ, by means of His Passion and Death,
is the only source of all mercy, grace, and salva
tion to man ; when and where can the fruits and
effects of His Passion be more certainly and more
abundantly bestowed upon us, than while assist
ing at the Holy Sacrifice of His Body and Blood,
where the whole mystery of His Passion and
OF THE MASS. 115
Death is renewed and commemorated, and which
He ordained for the very purpose of bestowing on
us the blessed fruits of His Passion and Death ?
If we knew that all the angels and saints in
heaven were praying for us, with what confidence,
with what hopes, should w T e not be inspired, of
obtaining all manner of graces ! But it is certain
that one prayer of Christ is more powerful and
efficacious, for obtaining all kinds of graces for
us, than the prayers of all the saints together.
" His prayers are always granted, on account of
" the respect due to His Divine Person, and of the
" right He has acquired by the merits of His Pas-
" sion and Death ;" and it is particularly during
the Mass " that He offers up prayers and supplica-
" tions with a strong cry and tears to Him who is
" able to save us." This is the fountain of salva
tion, from which all ought to draw the waters of
grace : it is hence that the good man must derive
vigilance under temptation, fidelity to divine grace,
and power and strength to fulfil the commandments.
The sinner should come and draw hence, in
sorrow of heart, the detestation of his sins, and
amendment of life. In all our necessities, whether
spiritual or temporal, let us therefore fly to the
altar, that we may obtain seasonable aid and help,
and that we may obtain strength to overcome our
passions, to correct our evil inclinations, and
adorn our souls with every virtue.
OX THE SACRIFICE
Many and great are our necessities, both
general and particular ; and great are the miseries
to which we are liable. Of ourselves, we can do
nothing : we can neither believe, hope, love, nor
repent, nor even make a step towards our justifica
tion and salvation without the help of heaven.
We are, moreover, encompassed on all sides with
dreadful dangers, that threaten us with the worst
of evils, for both time and eternity. But, in the
Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ has furnished us with
an inexhaustible fund, out of the fountains of our
Saviour, to supply all our necessities, to heal all
our infirmities, to guard us against all dangers,
and to redress all our miseries. Let us, there
fore, run to Christ, our High Priest, and our
Victim, and with Him, and through Him, to
His Eternal Father, and He will give us all good,
together with Himself, the Supreme Good.
In this sacrifice of supplication, w r e are not
limited or confined in our addresses, as if w r e were
to ask and receive graces for ourselves alone ; for,
as we have here the Victim slain for the general
redemption of fie whole world, and as the High
Priest, the God- man, here appears before His
Heavenly Father on behalf of all mankind, we are
authorized to put up our petitions with Him, and
through Him, for the general necessities of the
whole Church of God and of all mankind : that
the Holy Name of God may be sanctified by all,
OF THE MASS. 117
that His kingdom of grace may be propagated
through all nations and through all hearts ; that
His will may he done by all, and in all things ;
that the Church may be exalted by the sanctity of
her prelates and pastors ; that all infidels, here
tics, and sinners may be converted ; that all errors
and abuses may be corrected ; that we may be
preserved from war, plagues, famines, and other
evils ; and that, being delivered from the hands of
our enemies, we may serve God without fear, in
holiness and justice before Him all our days.
All these, together with many other graces and
blessings, we are encouraged to ask in this Sacri
fice, where Christ is both our Priest and Victim :
accordingly, the priest, in offering up the chalice,
says, "We offer to Thee, Lord, this chalice of
" salvation, imploring Thy clemency, for our own
" salvation, and for that of the whole world."
Lastly, the inexhaustible treasures of mercy,
which are laid open in these mysteries, give us a
confidence to join, all in a body, and to plead for
mercy, through this same Blood, for our departed
brethren, that we may obtain for them a discharge
of all the debt of punishment due to their sins.
If it is a holy and salutary thought to pray for the
departed, that they may be delivered from their
sins, how much more efficacious will our prayers
be when joined with the adorable Sacrifice of
118 ON THE SACRIFICE
Christ s blessed Body and Blood, and offered up
to God in union with those divine mysteries !
Accordingly, the Council of Trent declares,
" that there is a purgatory, that the souls of the
" departed there detained, are helped by the
" prayers of the living faithful, and especially by
" the most acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar ; and
"that the practice of offering up this Sacrifice,
" not only for the living, but also for the dead, is
" derived from the teaching of the apostles."
(Sess. xxii.)
DES INTENTIONS DANS LESQUELLES ON DOIT DIRE
" OU ENTENDilE LA SAINTE MESSE.
" Adorons les intentions toutcs divines, dans
" lesquelles Notre- Seigneur s est effort en sacrifice
" sur la Croix, et s offre encore tons les jours, par
" le ministere des Pretres sur nos Autels. II veut
" rendi-e a Dieu les grands devoirs d adoration, do
" rcmercimcnt, do satisfaction et do priere ; et
" pour lo fairc en la maiiiere la plus parfaite, son
" amour le porte a s immoler-soi-meme, et a so
" fjiirc notrc Pivtrc ct victimc tout ensemble.
" qu il nous y apprend bicn, comment, et a
" quelle fin, il faut entendre ou dire la sainte
Mcsse ! Qucllcs louanges, qucls rcmcrcimens,
" quels hommagcs, no lui devons-nous pas rendra
" pour une tellc conduite !
OF THE MASS.
119
" Avec quelles intentions clone assistons-nous
"a la Sainte Messe ? Est-ce pour adorer la
" Majeste cle Dieu et toutes ses divines perfections,
" qui ne peuvent etre digncment adorees, que par
" cette sainte et precieuse Victimo, qui est inirno-
"lee sur nos Autels?
" Est-ce pour rcconnaitre sa bonto cnvers nous,
" et lui rcndre grace pour tous les biens qu il nous
" a fuits, et qu il fait encore tous les jours avec
"profusion a toutes les creatures, dout nous ne
" sanrions le remercier comme il faut que par
" cette divine Hostie ?
" Est-ce pour appaiser sa Justice, et pour
" reparer I mjure quo lui ont faite nos peclics dont
"In grandeur demande nne satisfaction infinie, et
"pour lesquels il n y a quo Jesus qui puisse
" pleincment satisfaire ?
"Est-ce pour demander quelques graces pour
" nous ou pour les autres, n y en ayant point de si
" grandes, qu on ne puisse obtenir par Jesus, qui
" s offro particulierement a Dieu son Pore dans ce
" Sacrifice pour tous les besoms de son Eglise ?
" Mon Dicu, puisque les Pretres qui disent la
" sainte Mcsse, et ceux qui 1 entendent, vous
" offrent le memo sacrifice que votre Fils vous a
" offert sur 1 arbre de la Croix, il est bien juste
" que les uns et les autres entrent dans ses inten-
" tions, et qu ils se proposent la memo fin que lui.
" Faites-nous en la grace, 6 nion Dieu ! et ne
120 OX THE SACRIFICE
" permettez pas quo nous en ayons aucune, qui
" ne convienne it la saintete de 1 Hostie qui vous
"y cst offcrto, a laquelle I Eglise nous avertit
" de nous rendro conformes." (Tronsou, Sulpi-
icn mort en 1G7C.)
In a word, " La Messe est le grand sacrifice,
" 1" oblation unique, la resource du genre humain,
" promis a runivers depuis le commencement des
" siecles. C est la seule Victime que Dieu regarde
" d un coil favorable, la seule capable de desarmer
" sa coliTe, lorsque les peclies des peuples Font
" irrite. Le Prutre est le sacrificateur de la nou-
" velle alliance. II parait a 1 autel, a la place
" de Jesus Christ, formant son Eglise par sa
" mort, s immolant de nouveau pour elle, et
" I affermissant contre tous les efforts de 1 enfer."
(Massillon.)
The Holy Mass gives to God the greatest
" honour that can be y n-en to Him ; nothing so
"much weakens the power of Satan; it imparts
" the greatest relief to the souls in purgatory ; it is
" the most powerful means of appeasing the n rath
" <>f God against sinners ; and it imparts to man-
" hind the greatest spiritual advantages during
" this //>." (St. Liguori.)
While the Mass is being offered up, the Holy
Trinity is honoured and praised; the angels
" arc rejoiced ; the Church is edified, and receives
"help and grace; sinners obtain repentance and
OF THE MASS. 121
"pardon; the souls in purgatory obtain refresh-
" ment and rest; and those who offer up the
" Sacrifice, together with those who worthily assist
" thereat, obtain a powerful remedy against their
" daily sins and infirmities." (a Kempis.)
The Mass, as a sacrament, is to the faithful an
inexhaustible source of grace ; it has this advan
tage over all the other sacraments, that it im
parts to the soul the very Source itself from
which all graces flow, by giving us Jesus Christ
Himself, the author of all graces, His Body,
His Blood, His Soul, and His Divinity ; and,
therefore, it is the most excellent of all the
sacraments, in itself, and in its fruits. Accord
ingly, Christ Himself says : " This is the Bread
" which came down from Heaven ; I am the
" Living Bread which came down from heaven.
" If any man eat of this Bread, he shall not die ;
" if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for
" ever." (St. John vi. 50.) " Amen, amen, I say
" unto you, except you eat of the Flesh of the
" Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you shall not
" have life in you. He that eateth My Flesh and
" drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life, and I
" will raise him up in the last day. For My
" Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink
" indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh
" My Blood abideth in Me and I in him. As the
" Living Father has sent Me, and as I live by the
122 ON THE SACRIFICE
" Father, so lie that eateth Me, the same shall
" live by Me." (St. John vi. 52.)
Our Saviour elsewhere, (St. Matt, xxii.) com
pares the participation or communion of the Holy
Eucharist to a banquet to which a certain rich
man had invited all his dependants, but many of
whom, making excuses, declined his invitation.
Upon which, the master, being angry, said :
" Those men that were invited, but did not come,
" shall not taste of my supper."
The Church, alluding to the Eucharist, sings :
" sacred banquet, in which Christ is received,
" the memory of His Passion kept up, the soul
" filled with grace, and a pledge given of the glory
" to come !"
Again, the Eucharist, as a sacrament, is the
Living Bread, the food, the nourishment, the
strength, and the life of our souls, the manna of
heaven, the tree of life, spirit, truth, and life itself.
It is the remedy of all our evils, the most power
ful medicine for all our diseases, the sovereign
antidote against the poison of the infernal serpent,
the comfort of our banishment, the support of our
pilgrimage, the price of our ransom, the earnest
of our oteriuil salvation.
As sin and death, and all our woes, originally
came to us by eating of the forbidden fruit ; so
grace and life, and all our good, come to us by
eating of the fruit of this Tree of Life. The very
OF THE MASS. 123
institution of those heavenly mysteries, to he the
support of our spiritual life for the time of our
mortality, implies a command for us to approach
them, and to make use of them. We should
he guilty of self-murder, if we suffered our bodies
to perish by refusing to take that food which God
has appointed for their sustenance ; and are we
not equally guilty of murdering our souls if we
suffer them to starve for want of the food and
sustenance which our Lord has allotted them in
this life-giving banquet ? Truth itself assures us
that without this heavenly food we hare no life m
us. As, then, we are most strictly hound to
maintain the life of our souls, we are most strictly
hound to use this food of life ; and it is no less
certain death to stay away from this Blessed
Sacrament, than to come to it unworthily.
Here, we receive an assurance of the share we
have in our Redeemer, and in the Sacrifice of His
Cross. Here, we are mystically incorporated in
Him, and are made partakers of His Spirit. Here,
we are admitted to that Blood which is the seal of
the new covenant, importing the remission of our
sins, and our reconciliation with God, through
the death of His Son, together with admittance to
all graces and blessings through Him. Here, not
only the Passion and Death of Christ, but also
the victorious Resurrection and triumphant Ascen
sion of our crucified King, are solemnly com-
]24 ON THE SACRIFICE
mcmorated. Here wo have a most certain pledge
of a happy resurrection, of everlasting life, and of
eternal enjoyment in the happy country of Him
who thus gives Himself to us in this place of
banishment. Here, finally, He gives Himself to
be our food, our comfort, and support in this pil
grimage, till, by virtue of that food He brings us
to our true country, where He will give Himself
to us for all eternity.
Let us then bring to this Sacrament a lively
faith and a serious consideration of the work we
are about ; let us consider who it is whom we are
about to receive ; how great and glorious, how
pure and holy it is. Also let us conceive a most
profound humility and awful reverence for these
tremendous mysteries sanctified by the real pres
ence of Jesus Christ Himself, the Lord of glory
and the fountain of all sanctity. Let us then
annihilate ourselves in the sight of this great Lord
and milker of heaven and earth. Let us fear and
tremble in consideration of our manifold treasons
against Him, and our base unworthiness. For
it is the Holy of Holies who lies hero concealed
under those sacramental veils !
OF THE MASS. 125
CHAPTEE VI.
THE EXCELLENCE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
" This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
St. Matt. xvii. 5.
What the sun is to the material world, the
Mass is to religion. As it is the sun that gives
light, warmth, and fertility to the earth, so it is
the Sacrifice of the Mass that is the life and soul
of religion. As, without the sun all would he
darkness in the world, and everything on the face
of the earth perish, so without the Mass the same
effect would he produced in religion. The Mass
is the keystone of the arch of the edifice of Chris
tianity, which holds together all its parts. The
Mosaic sacrifices gave way before this adorable
Sacrifice, as the imperfect light of the moon and
stars vanishes before the blaze of the sun. The
Mass is the centre of the system of the Christian
religion, around which all its other parts, as so
many planets, move, and by which they are influ
enced. Every other part of religion has some
reference and tendency towards it, or derives from
it its meaning.
This great Sacrifice commenced with the world,
126 ON THE SACRIFICE
was consummated on the Cross, and is continued
on our altars. When we assist thereat, we are
engaged in the most sacred, the most august, the
most sublime action that can possibly be per
formed by man on the face of the earth. "We
render to the great God that made us, the most
supreme worship, the most divine homage, adora
tion, and thanksgiving, that can be possibly
offered to Him by His creatures. Earth has
nothing equal to it ; heaven nothing greater. It
is the Palladium of the world, and an inexhausti
ble source of all blessings, to both the living and
the dead.
It is a magnificent reality which, while it per
petuates the great sacrifice of Calvary, accom
plishes all the figurative sacrifices of the Mosaic
Law, and renders to God all the glory and
satisfaction due to Him. It is the principal
fountain of our Saviour, from which all ought
to draw the waters of grace. Though omnipo
tent, God has nothing greater to bestow on us;
though full of wisdom, He cannot give us any
thing more valuable ; though most rich, He has
no grader treasure to bestow upon us, than that
which He has given us in the Sacrifice of the
Altar. It is because we cannot, by any other
means, oiler to God an equal degree of worship,
because wo cannot offer Him anything else with
which lie is equally pleased, or upon which He
OF THE MASS. 127
has promised to look down with equal favour and
complacency, that the Church commands all her
children to assist at this redouhtahle sacrifice on
all Sundays and other particular days.
" La Messe est, de toutcs les actions du Chris -
" tianisme, la plus glorieuse a Dieu, et la plus
" utilo au siilut do I liominc. Jesus-Christ y
< reiiouvelle le grand my store de la Redemption;
" il s y fait encore, dans un vrai Sacrifice quoiquo
" non sanglant, notre victime ; il vient en per-
" sonno, nous appliquer, a chacun, les merites de
" CG sang adorable qu il a repandu pour nous tons
" sur la Croix.
"Les saints Pretres ne regardoient 1 autel,
" qu en trcmblant ; ils n y montoicnt qu avcc line
" sainte horrcur : plus leur vie etoit sainte, plus
" ils etaient attentifs a conserver leur ames purcs,
" plus ils sc trouvoient souilles en la presence de
" 1 Agneau sans tache qu ils alloient immoler."
(Massillon.)
The excellence and dignity of a sacrifice is esti
mated by the excellence and dignity of the victim
that is offered, of the priest that makes the
offering, and of the ends for which the offering is
made. Now, all these things concur to recom
mend, in the highest degree, the sacrifice of the
Blessed Eucharist, which in substance is the
same as that which the Son of God offered once
upon the cross ; because, the Victim is the same,
128 ON THE SACRIFICE
the Chief Priest the same, and both the one and
the other answer the same ends, though in a
different manner. Let us then admire the excel
lence of this great Sacrifice, which is offered
on our altars ; a sacrifice in which the whole pas
sion and death of Jesus Christ is solemnly acted
by Himself in person, and in such a manner,
that He Himself is both the Priest and the Vic
tim, the Sacrifice!* and the Sacrifice ! Christ
Jesus, the Son of God, was the great high priest
of God and men, who once solemnly offered His
own Body and Blood upon the Cross, a sacrifice
to God for all mankind ; His Body and Blood
were the Victim by which we were redeemed. And
now this same great High Priest of God and men
officiates in Person in the Sacrifice of the Altar,
and there offers up the same Victim of His Body
and Blood to His Heavenly Father in our behalf.
Can anything be more divine than such a Sacri
fice, in which a God is the Priest, and a God the
Victim !
As often, then, as we go to celebrate or assist
at these sacred mysteries, we should represent to
ourselves, that we are called upon, as by a royal
proclamation from heaven, to be sanctified, and to
come, together with our great High Priest, Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, and with His whole
Church of heaven and earth, to join in a most
OF THE MASS. 129
solemn sacrifice, that is going to be offered to God,
for all the great ends above mentioned.
It is a most certain truth, that in this divine
sacrifice, we present ourselves at the altar of God,
before the throne of His mercy, with Jesus Christ
His Son at our head, in the society of His
whole family, the whole people of God, wherever
they are ; for the sacrifice is offered by Jesus
Christ in the name of them all, and with the
concurrence of His whole Church. "We here offer
up to God the most acceptable victim that can be
presented to His divine Majesty ; the most agree
able adoration and thanksgiving that can be
offered to Him ; the most powerful atonement for
sin, and the most effectual moans for obtaining
all graces and blessings, it being the offering up
of the Passion and Death of the Son of God.
It has always been inculcated by the ancient
Holy Fathers, that the Church, in all her reli
gious worship, has nothing to present to us, that
can, in any degree, be compared with the wonder
ful presence of Jesus Christ, in the Eucharistic
sacrifice. Every office lias some relation to it ;
almost every ceremony is a distant preparation
towards worthily celebrating it, or receiving it ; it is
the principal object, towards which all the thoughts
and desires of a true Christian here below, are
directed ; it is the reward of his labours, the com
fort of his exile, the nourishment of his piety., his
9
130 ON THE SACRIFICE
support during liis pilgrimage, liis strength in
clangors and afflictions, liis only hope when he
descends into the grave, because, the surest
pledge of a glorious resurrection, and of a happy
immortality. It contains the history of the
greatest benefit ever conferred on man, that upon
which all his hopes are founded, by representing
our divine Redeemer, dying for the salvation of
the world.
The bloody immolation was made on the cross ;
the oblation is renewed on our altars, and will
continue till the end of time, the only Sacrifice of
the New Law, which has superseded every other
sacrifice, and can alone henceforward, be accept
able to the Supreme Being.
When Moses, with whom God was wont to con
verse familiarly, beheld clouds of smoke issuing
from the summit of Mount Sinai, as from a fiery fur
nace, and lightning continually flashing ; when he
heard the sound of a trumpet becoming continually
louder and louder ; when he beheld all the other
preventive measures which God had ordered, in
order to make His sanctity respected, he was seized
with fear and awe, and exclaimed: "lamfright-
" cued and tremble." But what was all this that
terrified the mediator of the old law, when com
pared with what takes place on our altars? It was
no more than a mere shadow. The Christian Priest
and the faithful, who constitute with him but one
OF THE MASS. 131
ministry, are here come to the " city of the living
" God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the com-
" pany of many thousands of angels; they are
" associated with the Church of the first-born,
" whose names are written in heaven, with God
" the Judge of all, with the spirits of the just
" made perfect, and with Jesus, the Mediator of
"the New Testament; the sprinkling of whose
" blood speaketh better things than that of Abel."
(Heb. xii. 22.)
When, in the old law, the High Priest, on the
yearly festival of expiation, was about to enter the
Holy of Holies, to pray for himself and for the
whole people of Israel, what preparatory prayers,
fasting and sacrifices were then offered up by the
command of God Himself ! The precious vest
ments which he wore were significant of the excel
lence and holiness of the function which he was then
about to perform. While the people remained with
out, fervently praying in solemn expectation, he
entered with his hands full of the blood of the vic
tim into the Holy of Holies. He remained there
but a few moments, praying with fear and awe ; the
ark of the covenant being enveloped in a cloud of
the smoke of incense. But what is all this in com
parison with what takes place on our Christian
altars ? Jesus, the Angel of Great Counsel,
our great High Priest, passes thence into the
highest heavens, and presents our Victim on the
132 OX THE SACRIFICE
high altar above. He enters into the perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands. He carries
with Him, not the blood of goats or of calves,
but His own precious blood, in order to obtain
eternal redemption. If, then, the ministration of
death was glorious, how much more is the min
istration of the Spirit in glory ! If the minis
tration of condemnation was glorious, how much
more does the ministration of justice abound in
glory! ( 2 Cor. iii. 9.) That which in the old
law appeared glorious, was not glorified by
reason of the glory that excellcth. If the Mosaic
sacrifice?!, which have been done away with, were
glorious, how much more glorious is the Sacrifice
of the Mass, which is to remain for ever !
It is God s delight to be with the children of
men. Hence the Holy of Holies continually
blazed with a light which proceeded, not from the
sun, nor from any natural source, but from a
divine brightness issuing from the Mercy-seat ;
yet this light was but the shadow of God s
presence. The fulness of His divine presence, wo
must never forget, He has reserved for us, among
whom He is now present, noL in shadow, but in
the truth and substance of His own Divine Per
son, in the Hjly l^ucharist. YTe can never suffi-
cu-nily admire the perfection and the height of
gl.;ry to which God has raised His Church, which
stands midway between the synagogue and the
OF THE MASS. 138
heavenly Jerusalem, and is but one step removed
from the glory of heaven. The synagogue had
but the shadow of the divine presence : the
Christian Church has, in the Eucharist, the
reality thereof, but veiled ; whilst the angels and
saints in heaven have the reality of the divine
presence unveiled. We are but one remove from
the glory of heaven.
It is to the eyes of faith alone that the greatness
and the holiness of the Mass appears ; for in it
we adore a hidden God, we immolate an invisible
Victim, we offer up. an unbloody sacrifice.
The Mass is a sacrifice, offered up at all times,
and in all places, which has ever continued since
the origin of Christianity, and shall be perpetuated
till the consummation of ages.
I. It has been ever offered up since the origin of
Christianity. From that moment in which Jesus
Christ delivered to His apostles, and to their lawful
successors, that consoling precept, "Do this in
" remembrance of ~Mc" the Mass has been con
tinually offered up. Until churches were built
the apostles continued to " break bread from
(< house to house." (Acts ii. 4G.)
It lias been offered up at all times. The varied
revolutions of the great luminary that enlightens
our system, would seem to have no other object
nor end, but continually to perpetuate this august
oblation ; for when it ceases to be offered up in
134 OX THE SACRIFICE
one part of the globe, other priests, in other lands,
succeed them in this awful function.
It is a perpetual sacrifice, a mystery which the
Church will incessantly renew and perpetuate,
until she herself is consummated in eternity.
It will always endure " the same" till the end of
ages. The Church is always uniform as to the
essentials of tlie sacrifice ; she can never suffer
them to he altered ; she is always careful to pre
serve in their original purity the dogmas of the
mystery, that the faithful may safely join in an
oblation, which has the glory of God for its essen
tial end, and the salvation of their immortal souls
for its great object.
It is the morning sacrifice, in which is offered
up the Lamb slain from the commencement of the
world ; the evening sacrifice, which will be offered
up till the consummation of ages.
II. The Mass is a sacrifice which is offered up
in evert/ place, from the rising of the sun to the
going down thereof. Wherever the Church of
Christ exists, and it exists everywhere, ministers
consecrated by the same unction, inheritors of the
same powers, invested with the same character,
address to the Almighty the same supplications,
offer up the same Victim, pour forth the same
Blood.
III. The Mass is an holocaust to honour God ;
a thank-offering to express our gratitude for bene-
OF THE MASS.
135
fits received; a sin-off crincj to counteract the effects
of the divine indignation ; a propitiation for sin ;
a sacrifice of impetration and prayer to obtain all
necessary graces; lastly, an act of consecration to
attach to the worship of God everything which,
by its nature, is devoted to His service. It is, in
a word, a sacrifice which supplies the place of
every other oblation, supersedes every other sacri
fice, disannuls every strange offering, and in some
manner absorbs every degree of merit, homage,
and adoration, due to the Supreme Being.
IV. It is a sacrifice in which not only the mem
bers of the Church militant on earth participate,
but also the citizens of heaven, by the union of
their homages, and the sorrowful inhabitants of
the place of expiation, by the resources which they
thence derive for their deliverance from their fiery
probation.
V. It is a sacrifice destined to efface all our sins.
Jesus Christ is in the Mass, the Lamb of the
Passover, by whose virtue we pass from death to
life ; from the captivity of sin to the liberty of
the children of God ; from this land of exile to
our true home in the abodes of eternity. We no
longer stand in need of the blood of heifers nor of
an emissary goat ; we no longer ground our justi
fications on bloody aspersions; we no longer
are obliged to seek a separate victim to efface each
particular stain; we possess in the cue Victim
13G OX THE SACRIFICE
which is immolated on our altars, a superabundance
of merits, which extends to all the maladies of our
souls.
It is a sacrifice offered up for all our necessities :
they are all embraced by and included in the
merits of the ohktion which Jesus Christ makes
of Himself, and arc expressed in the prayers that
accompany it.
Lastly, the Mass is a sacrifice in which every -
tinny / --; hoi//, whether we consider the supreme
object of the offering, the Victim which is offered,
or the Priest by whom the offering is made. It
is to the incomprehensible majesty of the Eternal
Father that the offering is made ; it is Jesus
Christ that is offered to His Eternal Father ; and
it is in the name and in the person of Jesus
Christ that the sacrifice is offered.
Every day, does the blood of the Lamb flow
from our altars to the place of expiation of the
souls in purgatory. Every instant, some happy
soul, purified by this expiatory effusion, wings its
flight to the realms of everlasting repose.
Lastly, this holy sacrifice is full of mysteries
and of miracles; the Eucharist itself is a profound
mystery ; the sacrifice is another ; and the priest
hood a third. The more the miracles are multi
plied, the more there are of wonders and myste
ries.
The institution of the eucharistic sacrifice and
OF THE MASS. 137
sacrament is one of the three great proofs of God s
love to mankind. His love for us brought Him
down from His heavenly throne to become one of
us ; His love for us made Him offer Himself up
upon the altar of the cross a sacrifice for our sins ;
and His love for us made Him bequeath to us His
Flesh and Blood, that we might partake of the
merits of His incarnation and redemption.
The eucharistic sacrifice and sacrament is one
of the three great means by which Christ com
municates Himself to us. He took upon Him
our flesh, to make us partakers of His divinity,
and to carry us up to heaven. He offered Him
self up as a sacrifice for us, to deliver us from sin
and hell, and to purchase for us mercy, grace, and
salvation ; and He gives us verily and indeed His
flesh and blood, to be the support of our pil
grimage, till, by its virtue, He brings us to our
true country, where He will feed us for all eter
nity.
Thus, in His incarnation and birth He made
Himself our companion ; in His Passion and
Death, the Victim of our ransom ; in the banquet
of His last supper, our food and nourishment ;
and in His heavenly kingdom, our eternal
reward.
The Son of God became one of us that He
might become our High Priest and Yictim. He
offered Himself as a sacrifice for us all, that He
133 OX THE SACRIFICE
might open the gates of heaven to us. His sacred
Body and Blood are here offered up for us, and
received by us, in remembrance of His passion
and death, and as a pledge of eternal happi
ness.
In a word, these three great mysteries are, as it
were, so many links of the same chain ; the mys
tery of the Eucharist is indispensably necessary
to communicate to our souls the benefits of the
mysteries of His Incarnation, Passion and Death.
Without the mystery of the Eucharist, the bene
fits of the mysteries of the Incarnation and Death
of Christ would be, to some extent, lost to us.
Christ s design in redeeming us, would have re
mained in a manner incomplete.
It Is through Christ alone that we can have
access to God; and it Is principally in the Mass
that we hare this access. It is by Christ, the
Priest and (he Victim of the Sacrifice of the Mass
with Christ and in Christ, that all honour and
glory arc niren to God the Father, in the unity of
the Holy GJtost.
It is by, or through Christ alme, who is the
Victim of the Sacrifice of the Mass, that we are
enabled to render to God the full homage that is
due to Him. Our hands being defiled with sin,
the Almighty could receive from us no homage
worthy of His supreme majesty. Without Christ,
how could we presume to draw nigh to the God-
OF THE MASS. 139
head, whose eyes are too pure to behold our evils,
and who cannot therefore look upon our iniquities ?
(Habacuc i. 13.) For this reason, was Christ
given to us, that the vileness and corruption of
our nature might no longer be an obstacle to the
homage due by us to the Godhead; but that,
being purified by our union with Him, we might
honour Him as He deserves to be honoured.
Thus, through Christ, we are enabled to render to
the Deity every kind of honour, to fulfil every kind
of homage, and to make to Him every kind of atone
ment. Wherefore, there should be no longer any
bounds to our feelings of gratitude. The immen
sity of God is honoured, since it is the universal
sacrifice of all places that is offered. The eternity
of God is honoured, since it is the sacrifice of all
times that is offered ; a sacrifice that shall have
its consummation in eternity only. The sanctity
of God is honoured, since it is the High Priest of
spotless purity who offers by our hands. His
justice is acknowledged, since it is the great Victim
of Propitiation that is immolated. His mercy is
seconded, since it is the mediator between God
and man, the angel of peace, that wafts the grate
ful odour of the holocaust, even to the altar on
high. Behold what w T e are capable of doing
through the Sacrifice of the Mass ! Behold the
various degrees of honour that we are enabled to
render to the Almighty through it ! Although,
140 ON THE SACRIFICE
owing to the corruption of our nature, we are un
worthy to approach the Divine Majesty, vet, by
means of the Mass, we are enabled to render to
God all honour and glory.
It is with Ok r lut thtit we offer. The ministry
which the priest exercises is not a mere ima^e,
a bare representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross ;
lut a positive renewal of the first immolation.
The action which he performs is identified with
that performed by Christ Himself. When the
priest blesses the oblation, it is Christ that imparts
to the offering the value that sanctifies it. When
the priest raises his eyes towards heaven, or ex
tends his hands in prayer, Christ presents to His
Eternal Father, His own hands, pierced with
wounds, and purpled with His own Blood. When
the priest renders thanks, when he humbles
himself, or bewails his own offences and those of
the people, Christ also renders thanks and im
plores the clemency of His Father. He reminds
Him of that contrition, of that grief for sin, which
once rent with mortal anguish His bosom in
Gethsemano. In a word, the priest does nothing
without Christ; he becomes, in some measure,
another Christ ; a visible Man-God to the people.
A visible representation takes place here on earth
u-hat is performed by the sovereign High Priest
on tho high altar of heaven. The association of
both the priest, and of every one of the faithful,
OF THE MASS. 141
with Christ, in offering up the holy sacrifice, im
poses on them a strict obligation of being holy,
even as Christ Himself is holy.
Lastly, it is in Jesus Christ that this sacrifice
is offered ; in Him alone, is all the merit and all
the value of this sacrifice contained. It is upon
Him alone, that God beams a look of mercy; and
it is by this benign look of mercy being reflected
upon us, that we are sanctified and saved. Hence,
we are not to place our confidence in any of the
exterior ceremonies that accompany the sacrifice ;
nor in the recital of the prayers employed in offer
ing it up : in order to fulfil the ends of the sacri
fice we must be united to Christ. In Him shall wo
find all that sanctity of which we are so deficient,
and that degree of attention and fervour which our
weakness is unable to attain. In Him, all our
thoughts become holy, our desires pure, our will
upright, and under perfect restraint. In Him, w r e
become strong, notwithstanding our frailty ; stead
fast, notwithstanding our inconstancy ; and just,
notwithstanding the corruption of our nature. In
Him, we render honour and glory to the Eternal
Father; we acknowledge Him to be the principle
of all things ; we avow our total and essential
dependence upon Him; we confess His power,
anticipate His justice, solicit His mercy, and bless
Him in all His works.
The Mass, considered as a prayer, is the most
142 ON THE SACRIFICE
affecting, and most devout compilation ever made
by man. In what other place shall we find
collected, in so small a compass, such vehement
acts of sorrow, such profound acts of humiliation,
such lively sentiments of gratitude, such expres
sive acts of thanksgiving, such fervent prayers of
supplication, such admirable tributes of adoration,
to the great Creator of heaven and earth ? Where
else shall we find such beautiful allusions to all
the great mysteries of religion ; such powerful
means of strengthening our faith, animating our
hopes, and filling our breasts with the love of
God? Here we are presented with an abridg
ment of our whole religion, and an epitome of all
its mysteries ; here we behold, at a single glance,
all the obligations that the Gospel imposes on us ;
here, in some measure, we obtain a glimpse of all
the promises which faith makes to us, together
with a foretaste of that happiness which is des
tined for us by the mercy of God. Thus, the
Christian who is instructed in the sense and
spirit of the Mass, and of its ceremonies, finds
all that can enlighten his mind and nourish his
heart.
1 Adorons Xotre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ, so pre-
parant a offrir sur le Calvaire son sacrifice qui
" cst le mrniG que cdid quo nous offrons tons les
jour* sur nos Autcls.
"Kegardons cette action comme une action
OF THE MASS. 143
" toute divine, ct qui, etant la plus importante
" que nous puissions faire, demande aussi une plus
" grande preparation !
" Faisons paraitre par la retenue de nos sens,
" par la posture cle notre corps, et par tout notre
" exterieur, une humilite profonde, une crainte
" religieuse et une vive foi de la presence de Dieu.
" Disons la sainte Messe, avcc un air de mocles-
" tie et de devotion qui fasse connaitre a ceux qui
" 1 cntendcnt, combien nous sommes convaincus,
" et combien ils le doivent etre, que Jesus Christ
" y est reellement present, accompagne d une
" multitude d anges qui 1 adorent.
" Faisons attention a la dignitc du souverain
" Pretre, au nom et en la personne duquel nous
11 agissons ; a la saintete infinie de la Victime,
" qui s immole entre nos mains ; et a la majeste
" incomprehensible de Dieu, a qui nous offrons ce
" sacrifice.
" Sic vivam ut sacri/icium Ulud adorandum,
" tremendum etc Deo plenum quotidie merear
" offerre." (Tronson.)
Ill OX THE SACRIFICE
Ml A YE R.
I confess, my God, that of myself I cannot
possibly assist at these divine mysteries as I
ought. I can neither think a good thought, nor
speak a good word, nor offer up a prayer which
may be acceptable in Thy sight, except Thy grace
direct me, and Thy Holy Spirit assist me. Grant
me, therefore, Thy poor supplicant, to feel, some
times at least, some little of the cordial affection
of Thy love, that my faith may be strengthened,
my hope in Thy goodness increased, and that my
charity being once perfectly enkindled, by having
tasted the Manna of Heaven, may never decay.
Amen.
OF THE MASS. 145
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE CEREMONIES, LANGUAGE, VESTMENTS, IN
CENSE, LIGHTS, ETC., USED IN THE LITURGY
OF THE MASS.
Interior religious worship comprises sentiments
of fuith, respect, gratitude, confidence, love, and
submission to God. Exterior religious worship, or
ceremonies, is the expression of those sentiments.
The word rites means those religious cere
monies which are approved and enjoined by the
Catholic Church.
The word liturgy means the collection of
prayers and ceremonies by which the august sacri
fice of the Mass, the most excellent act of reli
gion, is performed. Ceremonies, or exterior
worship, are necessary to nourish and manifest
interior worship, the worship of the heart, by
which we acknowledge God and His supreme
dominion over us.
Before entering on a particular explanation of
the ceremonies, language, vestments, &c., of the
Mass, I may in general observe that the meaning
of them would never be enquired, if people
would reflect that the Mass is not like the forms
10
146 ON THE SACRIFICE
of worship which wo behold around us, of modern
date and domestic origin ; otherwise, like them,
it would betray by its language and the paucity of
its ceremonies, the land and the time of its birth.
The Mass is the worship of the Christians of
old ; it is therefore redolent of antiquity : it
reminds us at each step of the habits and manners
of nations which have long ceased to exist. "We
therefore revere and cherish it as the form after
which our forefathers in the faith worshiped,
when they first embraced our holy faith, and
which they had received from those who had
derived it from the apostles of Christ. A worship
fabricated of late years may be anything else, but
it cannot be the worship of the Primitive Church.
ON CEREMONIES.
"Let all tilings be done decently, and according to
"order." (1 Cor. xiv. 40.)
God Himself in the old law, and the Church in
the new law, has ordained many sublime ceremonies,
capable of inspiring us with reverence and awe for
the sacred mysteries of religion. Religious cere
monies are outward signs of the interior disposi
tions with which wo ought to be animated while
worshiping the Almighty ; they are also means of
exciting those dispositions in us. Let us then
look upon them with the eyes of faith ; let us
OF THE MASS. 147
behold and practise them, with the greatest senti
ments of humility and reverence ; let us never
forget that they are but helps to acquire true inter
nal dispositions of religion ; let us then endeavour
to acquire the interior virtues of the soul, by out
ward acts of religion, and thus render ourselves
pleasing to our Creator.
Ceremonies are also a kind of illustration of our
sacred mysteries ; they, to a certain extent, repre
sent them to the eye, as a book or a discourse
does to the ear or mind, especially to the unedu
cated, who are always the greater number. Every
one who has ever assisted at the solemn celebra
tion of divine service at any considerable Catholic
establishment, or in any cathedral abroad, must
have felt how much the splendour and magnifi
cence of Catholic worship must tend to excite the
spirit of devotion, and inspire the soul with
respect and awe.
ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE LITURGY.
The languages generally approved of by the
Church in her public liturgies, are the Greek in
the Eastern Church, and the Latin in the Western
Church, of which we form a part ; these having
been the two prevalent languages at the time of
the establishment of Christianity. In the course
of ages, the original Greek and Latin languages
148 ON THE SACRIFICE
ceased to be the vernacular; for the modern
Greek language differs nearly as much from the
ancient Greek, as the modern Italian does from
the ancient Latin. Nevertheless, the Catholic
Church has ever continued the use of the two
original languages in her public worship ; in which
respect, she has done no more than did the Jewish
Sanhedrim in similar circumstances ; for after that
the Jews had, during the Babylonish captivity,
exchanged their own original Hebrew for the Syro-
Chaldaic tongue, they continued to perform divine
service in the Temple and in the synagogues
in their primitive Hebrew language, although the
common people no longer understood it. Nor did
our Saviour, who, with the apostles, regularly
frequented public worship in the temple and in the
synagogues, ever blame them for so doing. Like
wise both the United and Schismatic Greeks still
retain, in their public divine worship, the use of
the original Greek language, as the Western
Church does the Latin, although it is no longer
understood by the common people, who speak dif
ferent modern dialects.
Not only docs the Church approve of the above
practice, but also forbids her ministers to use in
the Mass the vernacular tongue of the nation to
which they belong.
As the doctrine of the Church, like her Divine
Founder, is "yesterday, and to-day, and the same
OF THE MASS. 149
for ever," she lias wisely ordained that the ancient
Greek and Latin, which, being now dead lan
guages, never vary, he alone used in the liturgy,
to avoid the dangers of a variable language, which
is the character of every modern tongue. Great
would be the danger to the faith, besides many
other inconveniences, of using public worship in
a language which is always changing or growing
obsolete. Of all languages, the Latin is the only
language universally understood.
Moreover, Catholics look upon their priests as
the ministers of Christ. Hence, when they stand
at the altar, they become mediators between God
and His people. They have a sacrifice to offer,
which is an act that passes between God and them
alone; to complete which, no assistance of the
people is necessary. They offer for the people,
but, in the strict sense of the word, the people
have no part in offering with them. It is then
no matter of consequence in which language the
Almighty is addressed. He who is the author
of all languages equally understands them all. If
the priest understands the language in which he
then addresses the Almighty, what more is requi
site ? The words by which sacrifice is offered are
addressed to God, and not to the people, nor by
the people ; and if he who addresses them, and He
to whom they are addressed understand them,
150 ON THE SACRIFICE
every useful object is attained, and nothing more
is required.
Lastly, a universal language, not liable to
change, is indispensable as a bond of union in a
universal Church, to maintain a correspondence
between its different parts, and to keep the dif
ferent national Churches attached to the centre of
Catholic unity. Intelligent and unprejudiced Pro
testants readily admit this.
As diplomacy has its particular language, which
formerly was the Latin, and is now the French
language, in which nations correspond with each
other ; and as a congress could not be held
unless all the representatives of the different
nations thoroughly understood and could fluently
express themselves in one particular language,
so the general affairs of the Catholic Church could
not be transacted, nor General Councils of the
Church held, unless all the bishops of Christen
dom understood and spoke one and the same Ian-
gunge. Therefore, the dignity and the safety of
the Church required that the Greek language, in
which the Christian religion had been taught in
the East, should continue to be the ecclesiastical
language there, and the Latin language, in which
the Christian religion had been taught in the
West, should likewise continue to be the ecclesias
tical language of the Western Church.
So far is the Catholic Church from wishing to
OF THE MASS. 151
keep the people in ignorance, by retaining her
original and apostolical languages, the Greek and
Latin, that she strictly commands her ministers
to inculcate the Word of God and the lessons of
salvation to the people, in their vernacular
tongue, on every Sunday and festival of obligation
throughout the year, and frequently to explain to
them and make them understand the nature and
meaning of her divine worship. Moreover, the
Ordinary of the Mass is to be found in most
Catholic prayer books, together with a translation
into the different European languages.
Lastly, in all Catholic prayer books, under the
title of Devotions for the Mass, are found prayers
corresponding with every part of the Liturgy, and
most proper to excite the sentiments and acts of
devotion which the faithful ought then to feel.
Thus, while the priest remains at the foot of the
altar, they are taught to make acts of contrition
and of general confession of their sins ; at the
Creed, to make acts of faith in the principal
Christian mysteries ; at the Offertory, to offer up
the bread and wine for the great ends of sacrifice ;
during the Canon, to make to God supplications
for all persons and for all their wants ; at the
Elevation, to adore with the priest ; and at the
Communion, to partake of the Sacred Mysteries
with him. The only difference is, that those
sentiments and desires are expressed in language
152 ON THE SACRIFICE
better adapted to common understandings, and
consequently more useful to the generality of
people.
ON THE USE OF PARTICULAR VESTMENTS OR ROBES
DURING THE MASS.
In all the public functions of his office, the
priest wears certain appointed robes, or vestments,
especially when he oilers up the Holy Sacrifice.
God Himself in the old law, condescended to
regulate what robes the Priests and Levites should
wear while performing their respective functions :
the Church in the new law, has done the same for
her ministers. The robes in which bishops and
priests appear at the altar, were the ordinary
apparel at the time of the commencement of Chris
tianity. The bishops and priests had particular
suits of robes of the ordinary fashion, but of a
superior quality, which they wore at the altar
only. If then, at the present day, the robes of
bishops and priests (lifter from common apparel,
it is because the Church continues, in her pub
lic worship, to make use of the kind of robes
that were in common use at the time of her
institution, whilst the fashions of nations havo
since then undergone numberless changes. In
appearing i n particular robes while performing
their sacred functions, the ministers of religion
OF THE MASS.
153
do no more than what judges and magistrates do
in the performance of the functions of their re
spective offices. By invariably preserving the
ceremonies, language, and robes, in use at the
time of her institution, the Catholic Church fur
nishes us with a strong presumption of the Divine
origin and apostolicity of her doctrines ; for if the
Church has been so particular and careful in
preserving things of less moment, as ceremonies,
language, &c., how much more careful must she
have been, in preserving in their pure and un
adulterated state the doctrines taught by Christ
and His apostles, which are matters of much
greater importance.
ON THE USE OF IXCEXSE.
The use of incense is borrowed from the prac
tice of almost every nation in religious worship.
Pagans burned perfumes in the presence of their
idols. In the Levitical law, there was, by the
command of God Himself, an altar of incense, as
well as a perpetual fire, that burned continually
before the ark of the covenant. St. John, in the
Apocalypse, represents the angels of heaven, as
occupied in offering up incense in golden censers
before the throne of the Eternal ; which incense,
he tells us, is the prayers of the saints. It is a
154 ON THE SACRIFICE
most beautiful and expressive ceremony. The
circling clouds of smoke, which ascend to the
vaulted roofs of the temple, are an admirable rep
resentation of the aspirations which should ascend
from our hearts to heaven. The sweet odour of the
perfume most expressively teaches us, how agree
able to God is fervent prayer. These allusions are
certainly beautiful, and should teach us hencefor
ward to repeat with great feeling those words
of the Psalmist, " May my prayer, Lord,
" ascend like incense in Thy sight." For these
reasons, the Church uses incense in many of her
offices ; but in none more than during the solemn
sacrifice. Twice during Mass, does the priest offer
this perfume ; first, at his going up to the altar ;
and again after the Offertory. The server con
tinues to offer incense during the Elevation.
We offer this incense as a mark of honour to any
creature towards which we have religious respect,
as well as to God Himself. In this, it differs
from sacrifice, which can be offered to the Deity
only. We incense the altar, out of respect for it,
because it is soon to contain the precious Victim ;
we incense the broad and wine, on account of their
being destined to become our Victim. The incense,
before being used, is blessed by the priest, with
the sign of the cross, accompanied with these
words, " Mayest tliou be blessed by Him, in whose
"honour tliou art going to be burnt." And,
OF THE MASS. 155
during the incensing, he prays as follows : " May
" this incense, which Thou hast blessed, ascend
" to Thee, Lord, and may Thy mercy descend
"upon us." Thus, you observe that nothing can
be more edifying than the prayers and sentiments
with which the Church accompanies the ceremo
nies of her solemn service. If every Christian
would but enter into the spirit of them, he would
find in them that help to devotion which they are
intended to convey.
ON THE USE OF HOLY WATER.
" They shall dip hyssop into the waters, and sprinkle
" therewith all that are defiled : in this manner they
" shall purify the unclean." (Numbers xix 1 J.)
The waters here mentioned were the waters of
purification or lustration, which in the old law,
were blessed by mixing them with the ashes of
the red heifer, that had been offered up in sacri
fice, and entirely burnt, as the expression of their
faith and hope in the future sacrifice of Christ.
These ashes contained and imparted to the waters
the virtue of purifying from all uncleamiess those
who received them with proper dispositions. This
ceremony is striking and impressive, and has, for
this reason, been adopted by the Church. Hence,
the ministers of the Church, previously to divine
service, sprinkle the faithful with holy water,
156 ON THE SACRIFICE
using those words of David which have an evi
dent reference to the waters of lustration : " Thou
" shalt sprinkle rne with hyssop and I shall be
" cleansed : Thou shalt wash me and I shall be
" whiter than snow." (Psalm 1.) This is done
to remind the faithful of that interior purity with
which they ought to enter the house of God, and
to induce them to pray the more earnestly for that
disposition.
The water is first blessed by the minister of the
Church, as is everything else which is used in the
service of God. " Every creature of God," says St.
Paul, (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5.) " is sanctified by prayer."
The blessing consists in offering up prayers that
every person or place, where it shall be sprinkled,
may be guarded from pestilence and other calami
ties, and secured against the assaults of wicked
spirits.
The water is next mixed with a little salt,
which is an emblem of wisdom and of incorrup-
tion, over which, a prayer has been read by
the priest ; the blessing is then completed. The
faithful use it with piety, hoping that the prayers
of the Church, joined with their own prayers,
may obtain this blessing for them from the
Almighty.
This practice is useful, and conformable to the
purest principles of religion.
OF THE MASS. 157
ON ALTARS.
Sacrifice and altars are correlative terms : the
one supposes the other. As sacrifice dates from
the creation of the world, so do altars. It was
God Himself that showed to Adam how to build
an altar, and to offer sacrifices thereon. The
Israelites had their altars, especially those of
holocausts and of incense. " The Christians
" also," (Hebrews xiii.) " have altars, whereof
" they have no power to eat who serve the Taber-
" nacle." As, then, Christians have altars, so
they must have a sacrifice.
A crucifix is always placed on the altar, over
the tabernacle, to remind the faithful that the
sacrifice of the Mass is a continuation, a represen
tation, and commemoration of the sacrifice of the
cross, and to warn them that it is to God alone
that this supreme act of religion is referred, and
not to the saints or martyrs.
158 ON THE SACRIFICE
ON THE TAPERS WHICH ARE LIT UP DURING THE
MASS.
This is a remnant of primitive Christianity.
In times of persecution, the first Christians per
formed divine service in catacombs or dwellings
underground, and in secret and hidden places ;
also before daylight. Pliny, the Younger, being
Proconsul in Asia Minor, informed the Emperor
Trajan that the Christians were wont to meet
before daylight, to celebrate their mysteries, to
sing hymns to their Christ, to encourage each
other not to commit any crime, but to lead a
virtuous life.
The use of lights was then indispensable.
The Church continues to use them on her
altars during divine service, as an emblem of
Christ, who is "the Uylit of the world, the light
" that enlightens every one ihat enters the ivorld ;"
(St. John i.) as a symbol of the faitli of Chris
tians in the real presence of Christ on our altars
in the Blessed Eucharist, and as the expression
of their faith in general, of wliich lights are a
symbol. " Thy word, God," says David, " is a
" lamp to my feet, and a light to my steps." (Ps.
cxviii.)
Within the sanctuary, and in front of the altar,
a lamp is kept lit day and night, to warn us that
OF THE MASS.
159
Jesus Christ, the light of the world, is present on
our altars, awaiting our adorations and homages,
in order to confer on us His graces; and that our
lives should, by their holiness, shine like a,
luminary. Moreover, we must hear in mind that
perpetual adoration is due to our Divine Saviour
in the holy Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Eucha
rist ; but, as we are incapable of this, we substi
tute in its place inanimate creatures, particularly
a flame, which is an excellent emblem of devotion.
If, in the old law, a perpetual fire was, by the
command of God, kept continually burning before
the Holy of Holies, which was illuminated by the
shadow of God s presence only, how much more
ought we, in the new law, to keep a continual
light burning before our tabernacles, where the
reality of Christ s presence personally resides ! It
is a matter of great regret that so many Catholics
leave to the lamp the whole of the duty of wor
shiping Christ in our tabernacles.
If a person were going to the court of an earthly
monarch, on his way thither he would think of
where lie was going, and compose himself accord
ingly ; in like manner, when a person is about
to enter a church to assist at the holy sacrifice,
or to adore our Saviour in our tabernacles, he
should recollect the greatness of Him whom ho
is about to visit, and that it is into the presence of
the King of Kings that he is about to enter. This
160 ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
thought should inspire him with respect and awe,
for, when on entering the church, he heholds the
lamp burning, it should warn him that the
Lord of Glory there resides, and that he should
immediately fall down and adore.
v Do this in commemoration of me." St. JMatl/icir xx\ i.
4 The fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross are imparted to
our souls by the Sacrifice of the Mass." CJ. A uv. Sess. 22.
161
SECOND PART.
EXPLANATION OF THE LITURGY OF THE MASS.
CHAPTEK I.
ON THE INTENTIONS AND DISPOSITIONS WITH WHICH
WE SHOULD ASSIST AT THE MASS.
" The daily renewal on our altars in the Mass, of the
" Passion and Death of Christ, by which heaven and
" earth were reconciled, being the most holy and the
" most divine act of religion, the Council of Trent strictly
" enjoins every care to be taken, and every diligence to be
" used, that all, both priest and people, should bring to it
" the utmost purity of conscience, piety of heart, and
" outward marks of respect and devotion." (Sess. xxii.
Decretum de observatione.)
" By faith, Abel offered unto God a sacrifice exceeding
" that of Cain." (Heb. xi.)
"With desire," said Christ, (St. Luke xxii, 15,) "have
" I desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer."
It was our Saviour s most anxious desire to
celebrate with his disciples the first Mass. It is
still His most ardent wish to celebrate it now
with us, because every time this sacred action is
performed, we renew the memory of His sacred
Passion, we offer Him supreme worship, we pro-
11
162 EXPLANATION OF THE
mote His greatest glory, and the joy of the
heavenly spirits ; we advance our own sanctifica-
tion, and loose the chains of captive souls. St.
Augustine declares that, though omnipotent, God
can give us nothing greater ; though full of
wisdom, lie can think of nothing more valuable ;
though most rich, He has no greater treasure to
bestow on us, than what He has given us in the
Sacrifice of the Mass. How thoughtless, then,
and ungrateful, would it be on our part, to set no
value on this treasure, and to neglect availing
ourselves of it !
The first of murderers did not fail to offer the
sacrifice pointed out by the natural law. He pre
sented what was marked out as the matter of the
holocaust. To have seen him engaged in this
religious exercise, who would not have regarded
him as a faithful adorer ? But all the value and
merit of his sacrifice were rendered ineffectual,
because his heart was not right before God, and
because, unlike his brother Abel, he walked not in
innocence and simplicity.
David says to God: "If Thou hadst desired
" sacrifice, I would indeed have given it ; with
" burnt offerings Thou wilt not be delighted. A
" sacrifice to God is an nfllicted spirit : a contrite
" and humble heart, Thou, God, wilt not
" despise." (Psalm 1. 18.) We here see that no
outward means of honouring God and appeasing
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 163
His wrath, even by sacrifices appointed by Him
self for that purpose, will find acceptance with
Him, unless accompanied with sincere intentions
of mind, and dispositions of heart.
OX THE INTENTIONS AND DISPOSITIONS WITH WHICH
WE OUGHT TO ASSIST AT MASS IN ORDER TO REAP
THE FRUITS THEREOF.
Those intentions and dispositions are as follow :
1. A most profound humility, awful dread and
respectful reverence for the great God whom we
there adore, founded on the incomprehensible
Majesty and supreme dominion of God over us
and over all creatures ; on the infinite sanctity of
Jesus Christ, who is present on our altars in those
sacred mysteries, as our High Priest and Victim.
2. A deep sense of the numberless blessings,
favours, mercies, benefits, and graces, which we
have been continually receiving from our good
God, from the first moment of our existence to the
present, accompanied with a heart fall of gratitude,
for so much goodness, so liberally bestowed on us,
who have been so undeserving of it.
3. A humble and sincere repentance for all our
sins, accompanied with an ardent desire, and firm
resolution of never, for the time to come, offending
our good God.
4. A steady and unshaken confidence in the
1G4 EXPLANATION OF THE
goodness of God, that through the merits of His
Beloved Son, offered up to Him in this holy Sacri
fice, He will pardon our past sins, enable us to
persevere in His service for the time to come,
bestow on us every good tiring, of which He knows
we stand in need, and bring us at last to eternal
happiness.
5. As the Mass is not a mere simple figure or
remembrance of the Passion and Death of our
Saviour, but a mystical representation, an actual
commemoration and continuation of the same,
according to that saying of St. Paul, " as often as
" you shall cat this bread and drink this chalice,
" you shall show forth the death of the Lord until
" He come," (1 Cor. xi. 2G.) we should endeavour
to put our souls in the like dispositions of repent
ance for our sins with which, as good Christians,
we should have assisted at the Sacrifice of the
Cross, had we been present thereat.
C. AVe should assist at the Mass with confi
dence; for nothing should more inspire us with
this disposition than the presence on our altars of
Jesus Christ offering Himself as our Victim of
propitiation and of impetration to His Eternal
Father.
7. With respect; for Jesus Christ offers Hirn-
Felf to God there for us, and we offer ourselves to
Him by the hands of the Priest. These con
siderations should induce us to assist at the holy
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 165
Sacrifice with the utmost respect of which we are
capable.
Those persons are particularly wanting in
respect towards our holy mysteries, who, by their
wilful distractions and outward irreverences show
that they are not actuated by any religious
sentiments and feelings. Those also are wanting
in like respect, who, being in the state of mortal
sin, assist at the Mass without any desire, or
even thought of repentance for their sins; for
such, by assisting at Mass, become guilty of the
greatest hypocrisy, inasmuch as they pretend to
honour God and implore His mercy and protec
tion, while in reality they insult and irritate Him.
If then, it is provoking God for wilful and
obdurate sinners to assist at Mass, why does the
Church oblige them to assist thereat ? The Church
does not oblige sinners to assist at Mass in a state
of impenitence and obduracy ; but warns them at
least to desire to repent, and to assist at the holy
sacrifice with sentiments of faith, humility, and
compunction ; for the Church forbids the holy
sacrifice to be offered up if those who are to assist
thereat are not likely to manifest by their deport
ment proper intentions and dispositions. But
though a person may not be actually penitent,
providing that he desires and asks of God the gift
of repentance, and courage and strength to begin
a new life, he may with advantage assist at the
166 EXPLANATION OF THE
holy Sacrifice, for such a desire of reconciliation
with God is a gift of the Holy Ghost, and in
order to derive any benefit from the Mass, sinners
must have at least this commencement of repent
ance.
Enable us, therefore, God, by Thy grace,
" so to commemorate the Passion and Death of
" Christ Thy Son, as to partake most plentifully
" of the fruits of it."
CHAPTEE II.
EXPLANATION OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
" When the priest stretched forth his hands and
"offered up the blood of the gvnpe, all the people fell
" down upon their faces, to adore the Lord their God,
" and to pray to the Almighty God." Ecclus. 1. 10-19.
The Liturgy of the Mass may bo divided into
four parts : the preparation of the people ; the
preparation of the matter of the sacrifice ; the
canon ; and the communion. The two first esscn*
tlal parts of the sacrifice of the Mass are con
tained in the canon or third part of the liturgy of
the Muss. And the communion or third essential
part of the sacrifice is contained in the fourth part
of the liturgy, which also bears the name of com-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 167
munion ; and contains the prayers which precede
and follow this last part of the sacrifice.
FIRST ARTICLE.
PREPARATION OF THE PEOPLE.
The preparation of the people is subdivided
into two parts, the penitential and instructive
parts.
The Penitential Subdivision.
" A sacrifice to God is a humbled spirit. A contrite
"and humble heart, Thou, O God, wilt not despise."
Psalm 1.
Robed in his sacerdotal garments, the priest,
intrusted with the most august and most redoubt
able ministry, proceeds with humility and awe to
the foot of the altar, where he is to consummate
the great act that reconciles heaven and earth.
Of all the dispositions with which we should
approach the altar of God, humility and contrition
of heart are the most essential. Woe to that man
who encompasses the altar of God and is present at
the august sacrifice, without feeling a regret for his
sins, and a desire to be freed from them ! And
who is altogether free from sin? "If," says St.
John, (I. Ep., i.) " we say that we have no sin,
"we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
1G8 EXPLANATION OF THE
" us." St. James says, (iii. 2,) " in many things
" do we all offend."
Wherefore, the priest commences the Mass at
the foot of the altar: he does not presume to
ascend to it till he has first humbled himself
before God, and implored His mercy and forgive
ness. Like the publican, he stands afar off,
striking his breast, and acknowledging his un-
worthiness.
Those sentiments of humility and contrition
which should animate both priest and people
while at the foot of the altar, are contained in the
following prayer.
" Enter not into judgment with Thy servants ,
" great God, for in Thy sight no man living
" shall be justified ; but look on the face of Thy
" Son Jesus Christ, who in the Garden of Geth-
" semane, was pleased to take upon Him all my
" sins and to suffer a most dreadful sorrow, a
" bitter agony and bloody sweat, in order to cancel
" the bond that stood against me, and to cleanse
" my soul from all its pollutions. I this day
" desire to join the humble contrition of my soul
" with the agony of Jesus in the Garden, and in
" union with this most holy Sacrifice of His Body
" and Blood. Look upon me, my God, with
"the same almighty eye of mercy with which
Thou wast pleased to pierce the heart of Peter
" after his unhappy fall, and as I have but too
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
169
" often, by my repeated infidelities to Thee, imi-
" tated his fall, so grant that I may now rise
" after his example by a perfect conversion, and
" like him persevere to the end in serving Thee
" and promoting Thy glory."
The priest commences by making on himself
the sign of the cross, together with an express
invocation of the Most Holy Trinity ; because it
is in the name and in honour of the Holy Trinity
that he is about to renew the sacrifice of Christ s
Passion and Death.
He then recites, alternately with the minis
ters, the forty-second Psalm, which is one of
preparation to the sacrifice, and which was used
as such during the Mosaic dispensation.
This Psalm encourages him, notwithstanding
his unworthiness, not to be dejected, but to put
his confidence in God, and to approach His altar
with a cheerful heart ; because the Almighty, who
is our salvation, will make glad the hearts of all
who confess to Him, and put their trust in Him.
He implores the assistance of the Almighty
against his enemies; he reproves his soul for
being disheartened, while it ought to trust in
God ; and finally, he prays to God to illuminato
and console him. The priest recites this psalm
alternately with the ministers of the people,
because the people, as well as the priest, should
excite themselves to approach the altar with faith
170 EXPLANATION OF THE
and confidence, in order to offer up the sacrifice by
the hands of the priest. The psalm closes with the
doxology. It was Pope St. Damasus that, in the
fourth century, introduced the custom of repeating
it after every psalm. The former part of it is of
apostolical origin; the latter was added by the
General Council of Nice, to express the eternity,
and consequently the Divinity of the Three Divine
Persons.
THE CONFITEOR.
"The just is the first accuser of himself." Proverbs
xviii.
" Confess your sins to one another," says St. James,
" and pray for one another, that you may be saved." v. 10.
While at the foot of the altar, the priest, though
encouraging himself not to be dejected, but to put
his confidence in God, does not lose sight of his
unworthiness. He therefore makes, together with
the people, a general and public confession of his
sins.
In the old law, previously to the offering up of
sacrifice, a general confession of his sins was re
quired from the High Priest. An acknowledgment
of sins is still more necessary in the new law, as
a preparation for the sacrifice.
The formulary of confession of sins, used by
the Church, consists of two parts : in the former,
we confess to the Almighty, and to the whole
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 171
court of heaven, that we have sinned exceedingly
in every way, in thought, word, and deed ; and in
the latter part, we appeal to the whole court of
heaven, to pray to the Almighty, to ohtain of
Him for us the remission of our sins. This
confession is mutually made, hy hoth priest and
people ; they repeat the prayer, which contains an
avowal of the sins of which they are guilty. It is
first made hy the priest, because he should set the
example of those holy dispositions, and testify
and acknowledge that he stands in need of the
same indulgence which he solicits for others.
Conscious of his unworthiness, and of the holi
ness of the function which he is ahout to perform,
he calls on God for His assistance, saying : " Our
" help is in the name of the Lord, who made
" heaven and earth."
He commences thus: "I confess to Almighty
" God :" that is, I accuse myself, in the pres
ence of Almighty God, of all the injustices of my
past life. Not only does he confess to God, and
to " the spirits of the just made perfect, who, at
" the last day shall sit in judgment on us," but
also to his fellow creatures on earth. The angels
and saints have been witnesses of his sins ; he
therefore acknowledges his guilt in their presence,
that he may conciliate their intercession. First,
he makes this confession to the purest and most
merciful of Virgins, who herself never knew the
172 EXPLANATION OF THE
least defilement of sin ; to an archangel, who tri
umphed over the chief of the rebellious spirits and
over his followers ; to the Baptist, the most holy
of men, who was the friend of the Spouse ; to the
two chief apostles, SS. Peter and Paul, the most
powerful of all the saints upon earth, who were
invested with the power of binding and unbinding
consciences ; and lastly, to all the saints, the
friends of God, and to his own brethren on earth.
What does he confess ? Why does he call to
witness, God, His angels, and His saints, heaven
and earth ? He calls them to witness his acknow
ledgment of having been most unfaithful and
treacherous to his God.
Has he not, at least, respected some of the
faculties of his soul, and of the senses of his
body ? No ! ho has defiled them all ; for he has
sinned, in thought, in word, and in deed ! Every
thing in him has been made an instrument of
sin. Could any prayer be better calculated to
inspire a spirit of repentance, which is the soul of
penance ? Striking his breast, in imitation of the
publican, who by his humility found mercy
before God, he says : through my fault, for I have
hud so many motives, and means of avoiding
sin; tliroiifjU my fault, my perversity has alone
been the cause of my sins ; I do not attribute
them to cither the occasions of sin, or to the
violence of temptation ; through my most grievous
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 173
fault t my sins are most grievous, owing to the
obligations of my baptism, and to the great and
numerous graces that, in preference to many
others, I have received from God.
The second part of the Confiteor consists of an
invocation of all the angels and saints to pray to
God for him.
Sinking under the burden of his sins, he says,
Shall I despair? God forbid! religion inspires
me with other sentiments ; it commands me to
pray, and to invoke all the angels and saints, that
they may pray to God in my behalf ; therefore,
that is, because I have been guilty of so many
grievous sins, I beseech the Blessed Virgin, d-c. I
no longer presume to address God directly ; I con
fine myself to entreating all the saints of heaven,
and my brethren on earth, who have been witnesses
of my sins, to become my intercessors with my
Lord and my God.
By means of this general confession of sins,
made by both priest and people, a sort of concert,
a kind of unison of sighs and tears is established.
How different is it from what is heard in
heaven ! There the blessed spirits bow down in
adoration before the dazzling glory of Omnipo
tence, and cry out, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
of armies !" Here a crowd of sinners fall prostrate
before the tribunal of their Judge, and cry aloud
for mercy : "I have sinned, through my fault ,
174 EXPLANATION OF THE
" thrmiyh my fault, through my most grievous
"fault. 1
The two absolving prayers, Misercatur and In-
did/aiti(i)ii, which immediately follow the Confi-
tcor, and which mean, " May the Lord have
<l mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us
"to life everlasting;" and "May He grant us
" pardon, absolution, and remission of all our
" sins," these prayers, I say, are not authorita
tive, but supplicatory prayers, being used in the
same sense by both priest and people ; for in
them the priest makes himself a part of the
people.
With the following short and energetic expres
sions, do the priest and his ministers terminate the
prayers which detain them at the foot of the
altar : " Lord, cast a look of compassion on
"us; then shalt Thou enliven our hearts, and
" Thy people will rejoice in Thee. Show us,
" Lord, Thy mercy, and grant us Thy salvation.
" Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come
t: unto Thee."
Thus the devotion with which the faithful ought
to 1)0 occupied while the Priest remains at the foot
of the altar, is chiefly to excite themselves to
sorrow for their sins, which render them unworthy
to be present at the sacrifice, and earnestly to
beseech the Almighty to remove the cause of their
unworthincss. They should then particularly im-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 175
plore the grace of God, which alone can discover
to them the malice of sin, and obtain for them
true repentance.
The last words which the priest pronounces at
the foot of the altar, are Dominus voliscinn; by
which he prays that Christ may be in the midst
of them, that the Spirit of God may repose on
them, that He would grant them the spirit of
prayer, and the dispositions of fervour and repent
ance, so necessary to obtain the object of their
supplications.
The priest then ascends to the altar and hisses
i._The language he holds while ascending, is
perfectly conformable to the dispositions which
the preceding preparatory prayers are calculated to
inspire. His sins, and those of the people, are
the constant subject of his thoughts ; and their
forgiveness his constant desire and petition :
" Take away," says he, " our iniquities, we
beseech Thee, Lord," that, with a pure mind
and heart we may be worthy to enter into the
Holy of Holies ; for it is not the figurative, but
the true Holy of Holies that he is about to enter ;
it is before something more terrible than the
ark of the covenant that he is about to appear ;
it is not the blood of animals but that of the Son
of God, that He is about to offer ; he is coming to
Jesus, the mediator of the New Testament, the
17 G EXPLANATION OF THE
sprinkling of whose blood speaks better things
than the blood of Abel.
Arrived at the altar, and bowing down before it,
he kisses it out of respect for the spot on which
the Divine Victim is about to become present,
and in honour of the holy martyrs and saints,
whose relics are there deposited, and says : " We
"entreat Thee, God, by the merits of the
" saints, whose relics are here present, and of all
" the saints, that Thou wouldst forgive us our
li sins." It is with good reason that he recom
mends himself to the prayers of the saints in
general, and to those of the martyrs in particular ;
for the merits of the former, and the blood of the
latter, united with the blood of Christ, are of infinite
value, and their powerful intercession is most effi
cacious in obtaining f rom God the forgiveness of
our sins, and all kinds of graces.
From the dawn of Christianity, it has ever been
the practice of the Church to offer up the holy sacri
fice on the tombs of the martyrs ; nay, the tombs
of the martyrs were the first altars of Christianity:
hence altars to this day are frequently constructed
in the shape of tombs. The spots on which the
martyrs Liid down their lives for Christ, and which
imbibed their sacred blood, which they conse
crated by the sacrifice of their lives to God, on
which they bore a bloody testimony to the divinity
of Christ, and to the truth of His religion, have
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 177
always received special honours from the Church.
Hence sacred edifices have been raised over them,
which are called Confessions, because they there
confessed Christ by the sacrifice of their lives.
It was there that, on the anniversary of their
triumphs, the faithful ever met to offer up the
blood of the Lamb slain from the beginning of
the world ; in order to animate themselves, by the
example of the martyrs, to fidelity to their reli
gion, and to implore their intercession ; for the
voice of the blood of martyrs speaks volumes :
" they, being dead, yet speak." (Heb. xi. 4.)
Hence the custom, universally established
throughout Christendom, of having relics of saints
in the altars. Hence the allusion in the Apoca
lypse, (vi. 9-11.) " I beheld under the altar the
" souls of them that were slain for the love of
" God, and the testimony which they held ; and
" they cried with a loud voice, saying : How long,
" Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge,
" and revenge our blood on them that dwell on
" the earth ? And whito robes were given to
" every one of them ; and it was said to them
" that they should rest for a little time, till the
" number of their brethren, that were also to be
" slain for the faith, even as they had been, should
" be filled up."
12
178 EXPLANATION OF THE
Instructive Subdivision.
This part contains the Introit, the Kyrie, the
Gloria, the Collect, the Epistle, the Gospel, and
the Creed. The Church has, in this part, joined
with instruction the praise of the Almighty, and
prayer, in order to prepare the people for the
celebration of the awful mysteries, and that their
minds and hearts might be filled with holy
thoughts and desires.
THE INTROIT
Is one of those parts of the Mass which give it a
special character, according to the day or season
of the year, the subject of the office of the day
being therein proposed, which is either a mystery
of the life or death of Christ, or the virtues of a
saint, which the Church proposes for our imita
tion ; for the sacrifice of the Mass is offered to
God alone, and under no circumstance is it or can
it be offered to any saint.
The word introlt means entrance ; for this part
is properly the commencement of the Mass.
Formerly the Introit consisted of a whole Psalm,
which was sunn- w hile the faithful were assembling
for divine service. At present a verse and anthem
; i] - v ;irc repented, together with the doxology.
The priest begins with the sign of the cross,
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 179
as tins is the commencement of the Mass, the
former prayers being merely introductory.
The ascent of the priest to the altar represents
the coming of the Son of God upon earth ; and the
Introit expresses the longing desires of the an
cient just for the coming of the Desired of all
nations ; to express those desires the words of
David are chosen, for He, to use the words of
Christ Himself, is " one of the kings and prophets
" who so much desired to see the things that you
" see, and to hear the things that you hear."
More fortunate than those holy personages, the
children of the Catholic Church express their joy
by hailing the coming of the Redeemer : they
possess Him whom the patriarchs, prophets,
kings, priests, and all the ancient just desired, and
for whose coming they longed, saying: "Send,
" Lord, the Lamb that is to rale ns. Come,
" Lord, and do not delay: (Isaias Ix.) Dur
ing the Introit, we should unite our hearts and
desires to those of the ancient just, and endeavour
to enter into their dispositions and ardent desires
for the establishment of the reign of Christ in our
souls ; for this is an indispensable disposition to
derive benefit from the august sacrifice. What
would be the dispositions of Abraham, Isaac, and
David, if, like us, they had the happiness of assist
ing in the Mass at the immolation of the Lamb,
whose coming they so ardently desired ?
180 EXPLANATION OF THE
There is a particular Introit for all Sundays
and for all the great festivals of the Church. On
saints clays, the Introit is generally taken from the
office common to all the saints of the same class
whether martyrs, confessors, or virgins, but
with some exceptions in favour of particular saints,
who were distinguished for some great virtue, or
prominent in some great work of faith and charity.
Thus, for instance, St. Francis of Assisium, so
distinguished for his devotion to the Passion of
Christ, and for his zeal in propagating it, has for
his Introit those words of St. Paul : " God forbid
" that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
" Jesus Christ." (Galatians vi.) St. Lawrence, so
renowned on account of his great charity to the
poor, has the words of the Psalmist: " He hath
" distributed ; Le hath given to the poor," &c.
St. Jerome yEmilian, famed for his compassion
on destitute little children, has those words of
the Lamentations for his Introit: "My heart
"is poured out upon the earth, for the de-
" struction of the daughter of my people, when
<<thc children and the sucklings fainted in the
" streets of the city." In the Mass for the festival
of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Introit is, "In the
< name of Jesus, let every knee bow in heaven, on
"earth, and under the earth, and let every tongue
^confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the
"glory of God the Father." St. Camillus, so
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
181
renowned for his charity to the poor and to the
dying, has for his Introit : " Blessed is he that
" unclerstancleth concerning the needy and the
" poor. The Lord will deliver him in the needy
"clay, and help him on the bed of sorrow."
(Psalm xl.) St. Vincent de Paul, who embraced
every land of good works, and provided asylums
for every species of human misery, has for his
Introit : " The just man shall flourish like tho
" palm tree, and grow up like the cedars of the
"Libanon." (Tsaias xxxv.) Lastly, the Introit
for the Mass of St. Aloysius, is : " Thou hast,
" God, made him little inferior to the angels :
" Thou hast crowned him with honour and glory."
(Psalm viii.)
THE KYRIE ELEISON.
" Have mercy upon me, God, according to Thy
"great mercy, and according to tho multitude of Thy
" tender mercies blot out my iniquities. Heal me, for I
" am infirm and weak." (Psalm 1.)
This is an earnest supplication for mercy, suit
able to the commencement of so sacred an action
as the offering up of the Holy Sacrifice. There is
something very striking and beautiful in the
amount of penitential and supplicatory addresses
thrown into the earlier part of the Liturgy of the
Mass.
This short emphatic prayer, "Have mercy
182 EXPLANATION OF THE
" on its," is a cry of the heart, proceeding from a
feeling conviction of one s own misery, and of the
mercy of God. The Cananean woman has taught
us the value of this prayer, which she continued
to repeat, with so great confidence in Christ, and
such sentiments of her own unworthiness, that at
last lie granted her request. The blind man of
Jericho also teaches us the efficacy of this prayer ;
for the more that silence was sought to be im
posed upon him, with the more ardour did he
exclaim, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on
"me," till at last Christ restored to him his
sight.
The Kyrie was introduced into the Liturgy in
behalf of the catechumens, who were under in
struction for baptism, and of the public penitents.
Moved by the prayers of the former, and by the
tears of the latter, the faithful implored the Al
mighty in their behalf. They prayed for the for
mer, that God would forgive them their offences,
enlighten their hearts, and inspire them with His
fear and love; and for the latter, that God would
forgive them their sins, and restore them to His
favour. When the Kyrie came to be offered up
for all the faithful, the custom was introduced
of repeating it nine times, in honour of the nine
choirs of angels ; three times it is addressed to
God the Father, three times to God the Son, and
three times to God the Holy Ghost.
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
We call on God tie Father, as our Creator,
Protector, and Parent. As our Creator, who
knoweth our miseries, and the infirmity of our
nature ; "He knoweth our frame, and remember-
"eth that we are dust." (Psalm cii.) As our
Protector, who knoweth that Satan is continually
going about, like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour, and that the frail vessel of our
heart is in continual danger of losing the precious
gift of grace. As our Father, a name which is
to us, a title of confidence, and to Him, a motive
of commiseration.
We call upon God the Sou, as our High Priest,
Victim, and Brother. As our Iliah Priest, who,
having no sins of His own, for which to solicit
pardon, applies the whole fruits of the sacrifice
for the remission of our sins ; and who took upon
Him our transgressions, in order, with His infi
nite sanctity, to make full atonement for them.
As our Victim, in whom are united, in a sovereign
degree, all the properties of propitiation, and ex
piation, of recovery of favours lost, and of thanks
giving for benefits received. As our Brother, to
whom we may look up with confidence, since He
has taken upon Him our nature, that He might
make us His co-heirs.
We call upon God the Holy Gliost, as the
Author of grace, the Inspirer of prayer, the
Sanctifier of souls, our Counsellor, and our Guide.
184 EXPLANATION OF THE
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO.
" Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within
"me praise His holy name." (Psalm cii.)
Immediately after the Kyrie, the priest, stand
ing at the middle of the altar, with his hands
extended in the attitude of prayer, and raised up
to the height of his shoulders, thereby signifying
his love of heavenly things, and his desire of
possessing them, commences the Gloria m excel-
sis Deo : at the word Deo, he joins his hands and
bows, through respect for the name of God. The
3-lona in excelsis" dates from the very origin of
Christianity. The angels chanted this canticle of
love over the crib of the Infant of Bethlehem.
The Church has ever continued to repeat it.
Such is the origin of the Gloria in excelsis.
This canticle comes, with the greatest propriety,
immediately after the Kvrie eleison ; for in the
Kyrie, the Church had cried to God for mercy :
full of confidence that she has obtained it, she
Bounds the hymn of gratitude: borrowing the
icntical words of the angels, she chants the great
mystery of the Incarnation, which constitutes her
happiness, her hopes, and her glory: she, at the
same time, lauds the Almighty, and solicits His
protection.
As one of the heavenly spirits announced to the
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
185
shepherds the good tidings, and a multitude of
angels sang the hymn of praise, so the priest at
the altar intones this canticle, which is taken up
by the faithful: "Glory he to God on high, and
peace on earth to men of good will." (St. Luke ii.
14.)
The Introit expresses the longing desires of
the ancient just for the coming of the Messias :
the Gloria in excehis announces the coming of
Him who is the object of their desires. The
Introit denotes the time that preceded the coming
of the Messias : the Gloria in cxcchis that which
follows it.
This hymn is indeed a hymn worthy of angels,
which they might sing among those eternal canti
cles they are incessantly pouring forth to the
Lord of Glory. Of all the forms of praise and
adoration, by which we attempt to express our
homages to the Almighty, it is one of the finest
specimens ever composed by man. We cannot
read it attentively, without being filled with a high
sense of the majesty of God, and of the homage
due to Him by all His creatures. Can there be
anything more simple and yet more profound than
those beautiful words: " We praise Thee; ice
" Mess Thee; we glorify Thee; we thank Thee for
" Thy great glory, Lord God, heavenly King,
" God the Father Almighty" ?
In these words, we offer Him the highest tribute
18G EXPLANATION OF THE
of which the mind and heart of man are capable ;
we proclaim Him to he worthy of all praise,
blessings, and thanksgivings, for His own sake
alone, as the Almighty King of heaven and earth,
and independently of all the favours conferred
upon us, the most unworthy of His creatures.
We thank Him for His own great glory, and
for having manifested that glory to us. While
calling to mind the Three Persons that subsist in
the Godhead, we again renew our adoration, and
proclaim, " Thou only art Iwly, Tliou only art the
" Lor<1, Thou only art most high, Jesus Christ,
" toe/ether with the Holy Ghost t in tlie glory of
" God the Father:
Between these two parts, which form the
beginning and end of this hymn, there are a few
words of supplication, in which we call upon the
Lamb of God to hear our prayers, and to forgive
us our sins : " AVho takest away the sins of the
"world, have mercy on us," &c. ; "receive our
prayers."
It over the Deity condescends to allow creatures
so insignificant as we are, to pronounce His
praises; if over He listens to the feeble voice of
man, it must be when he uses such accents as
these, so worthy of the God whom they celebrate.
Lot us, then, in future, make our hearts and
minds to correspond with these noble words of our
lips, and endeavour to repeat this hymn, with
LITUEGY OF THE MASS. 187
all the devotion which the angels felt when they
first sang it. Let us pronounce this hymn with
as much respect as if the angels themselves were
present, repeating it with us.
The priest concludes the Gloria in excelsis, by
making on himself the sign of the cross. We
cannot too often have recourse to this all-powerful
sign, to recall to our minds that all blessings are
derived from the cross of Christ. The Church,
ever careful to keep up all the holy practices of
primitive Christianity, repeats this salutary sign
no fewer than seven times during the Mass ; at
the commencement thereof, at the end of the
Gloria, of the Credo, and of the Pater noster,
before the two Gospels, and at the end of the
Sanctus.
The canticle of angels has resounded ; the peace
brought upon earth by Christ has been announced.
What, then, can be more natural than that the
priest should wish it to the faithful ? How will
he do it ?
DOMINUS VOBISCUM.
" The Lord is with thee." (St. Luke, i. 28.)
The Gloria being ended, the priest kisses the
altar, and turning towards the people with ex
tended arms, salutes them with these words : " The
188 EXPLANATION OF THE
Lord be with you" The people answer, by
returning Lira the same earnest wish : "And with
tliy sp uil." What greater blessings can he impart
us, than to have the Lord always with us ? If we
have Him, we possess all things ; without Him,
nothing will avail us. When, therefore, you hear
the priest pronouncing these words, call to mind
the vast importance of their meaning. He prays
that the Lord may accompany you wherever you
go; that He maybe present with you in every place;
may protect you in every clanger ; may guide you,
by His watchful providence, unto every good ; that
He may be with 3 ou in the midst of temptations,
to enable you to overcome them ; in your doubts
and difficulties, to counsel you; in your pros
perity, to make you use it well ; in your adversity,
to soften down its asperity, and to strengthen you
with patience. " For there is no sanctity if God
^ withdraws His hand ; no wisdom avails if He
" cease to govern us ; no strength is of any help,
" tf He support us not ; no chastity is secure
"without His protection; no guard that we can
keep upon ourselves will profit, if God s holy
Providence watch not over us."-a Kempis,
hook 3, cli. 14.
As immediately applied to the sacrifice the
*> means that the Lord may be
1 ^u during the time of Mass; that He may
> constantly in your minds and hearts, and keep
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
you recollected < that He may fill you with a lively
faith, and with a spirit of compunction, fervour,
and prayer, that you may worthily assist at the
holy sacrifice.
We should ever pray that God would he
always with us. Can there be a greater happi
ness than to have Him with us? Thus, we
read what God said to the Patriarch Jacob : " I
" will be thy keeper, whithersoever thou goest."
God was with the Patriarch Joseph in Putiphar s
house, and made all that he did to prosper.
Putiphar soon perceived that God was with
Joseph, and he intrusted the whole of his house
hold and of his affairs to him. " God went down
" with him into the dungeon, and left him not till
" He brought him the sceptre of the kingdom of
" Egypt." Again, God said to Josue : "As I
" have been with Moses, so I will be with thee."
Again, "Saul was afraid of David; for he saw
"that in all things he acted prudently, and that
" God was with him."
On the contrary, can there be a greater misfor
tune, a greater unhappiness, than to be forsaken
and cast off by God? " Woe to them," says
God, "when I shall have departed from them,"
(Ozeas ix.) by abandoning them to a hardened
and reprobate sense. Those, thus abandoned by
God, go on from sin to sin, till at last they are
precipitated into eternal flames. This is fully
190 EXPLANATION OF THE
illustrated in the miserable end to which King
Saul came, after that God cast him off, for his
disobedience to His commands. " Saul s time
" was now approaching. The Philistines, whom
" ho had defeated in the early part of his reign,
" when God was with him, were gathering their
" armies against Israel, and Saul began to be
" dismayed ; for he knew that the Lord had
" forsaken him, and would not answer him, either
" by dreams, by priest, or by prophet. In his
" forlorn state he sought refuge in witchcraft.
" Samuel, when brought up by the witch, said
" to him : * Why hast thou disturbed my rest,
"that I should be brought up? And Saul
"said: I am in great distress; for the Philis-
" tines fight against me, and God has departed
" from me, and will not hear me, either by
" the hands of prophets, or by dreams ; therefore
" I have called thee, that thou mayest show me
" what I should do. Samuel said : The Lord
hath indeed departed from thee, and gone over
" to thy rival. He will rend thy kingdom out of
" thy hands, and will give it to thy rival David :
"because thou didst not obey the voice of the
"Lord. Therefore, hath the Lord done to thee
" what thou suflerest this day. Tomorrow, thou
" and thy sons shall be with me in death. And
" the Lord wiil deliver the army of Israel into
"the hands of the Philistines." Frightened by
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 191
these words of Samuel, Saul fell forthwith to the
ground; there was no strength in him, for
through distress of mind, he had eaten no bread all
that day : he was obliged to receive food from the
hands of the witch. The next day, Israel fled
before the Philistines. Saul s three sons were slain
in battle ; he himself perished by his own hands,
to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy.
Let us, then, never cease praying that God
would always keep His hand over us. Let it
be our perpetual care that God may be ever with
us, to be the soul of our souls, the life of our
lives, the will of our wills, the reason of our
reason, and to have the whole control of all that
regards us. Let us ever pray that He would
guide us in all our ways, enlighten us in all our
doubts, encourage us in all our difficulties, dis
cover to us all snares, defend us in all dangers,
strengthen us against all enemies, and preserve
us from the ways of all corruption. This blessing
of " Dominus voliscum" is imparted eight times
during the divine service.
Bishops, instead of here, like the Priests, ad
dressing the faithful with " Dominus voliscum,"
greet them with these words : " Pax vobis Peace
be unto you." It was with these words that our
Saviour, after His resurrection, saluted His
apostles. He had, by His death, made peace
between His Eternal Father and mankind, proved
192 EXPLANATION OF THE
by His resurrection that He had made it, and
then wished them a share in it.
THE COLLECT.
" When t\vo or three are gathered together in My
"name, I am in the midst of them." (Matt, xviii. 20.)
" If you ask the rather anything in My name, He will
" give it you." (St. John xvi. 2o.)
The priest now goes to the Epistle corner of
the altar, and says aloud : Oremus : (Let us pray.)
This is the second time since the commencement
of the Mass, that he has given himself and the
people this essential warning. It is repeated five
times during the service : after the Gonfiteor ;
before the Collect ; before the Offertory ; before the
Pater noster ; and before the Post Communion.
Having invoked the Lord to be with him, to
enable him to pray; having warned the people
to join with him in prayer, the priest commences
the Collect, or prayer for the day. This prayer is
for two reasons called the Collect: 1. Because it
is offered up for all present ; 2. Because it is an
abridgment of all that the priest should ask for
himself and for the people. The Collects, for all
the Sundays throughout the year, for the great
annual solemnities, and for the festivals of the
primitive martyrs and saints, were reduced into
their present form by the Pontiffs St. Gregorv the
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 193
Great raid Gclasius, while tlie substance of them
is of apostolical origin. They embrace all the
subjects for which we ought to pray; and are
most worthy of our respect. However varied our
wants, our legitimate desires, and our sufferings,
they are all fully expressed in these admirable
prayers. A particular simplicity and fervour, not
to be found elsewhere, reigns throughout them.
The Catholic Church alone could compose such
prayers. She alone, as the true spouse of Christ,
knows how to address Him, and to make an im
pression on Him.
In penitential seasons, several collects are
offered up during the same service. On great
solemnities, there is never more than one collect,
in order that the whole attention of the people
may be concentrated on the particular mystery of
the day. However different those mysteries, they
all have but one and the same object, the glory of
God, and the salvation of man. The Church
wishes us to understand, that to ask of God the
application of the mystery of the day, is to ask of
Him all our wants.
On festivals of saints, the Church, in order to
engage us to imitate their examples, makes parti
cular allusion to the principal virtues by which
these friends of God were distinguished.
The Collects are always addressed to God the
Father, because it is to Him that the sacrilice is
13
194 EXPLANATION OF THE
offered. They conclude with these words, " through
Christ our Lord" This means, that it is in
Christ, and through Christ, that all prayers are
addressed to the Eternal Father ; there being no
mediator between Him and mankind except the
Saviour, Jesus. These words also mean that
Jesus Christ has not only undertaken to make
satisfaction for man s sins, but also to present to
His Eternal Father our vows and supplications for
mercy, grace, and salvation. This conclusion,
lastly, means, that all graces are granted in view
of the merits of Jesus Christ. As our Divine
Intercessor offers Himself up a victim on our
altars, and as we offer Him, in exchange for all
the graces that we ask, this formula should in
spire us with the greatest confidence. By asking
in the name of Christ, we have a right to obtain
all our just wishes. May we be convinced of this,
while offering up the Collect with the priest.
The assistants answer A men to all the prayers
offered up by the priest. This word is a short
and energetic acclamation, which means : we
desire what you ask, we join with you in asking
it. Pronounced after the Creed, Amen means, it
is Imc, u c believe it.
The heavenly Jerusalem continually resounds
with the word Amen, in approbation of the praises
of God, sung by the heavenly spirits. Let us
endeavour to pronounce it, in the same spirit, that
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 195
the Church upon earth may more or less resemble
that of heaven.
THE EPISTLE.
"All scripture insphvd of God, is profitable to teach,
" to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice." 2 Timothy
iii. 10.
" God, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spoke
" in times past to the fathers by the prophets."
Hebrews i.
"The holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy
" Ghost." 2 Peter i.
When we pray, we speak to God : God speaks
to us, when we read His holy word. Having
already spoken to God in the different prayers
which the Church enjoins, and, above all, in that
prayer, (the Collect,) which the priest, with his
hands extended towards heaven, offers, in the
name of the united assembly of the faithful, then
it is that the Supreme Majesty of Heaven conde
scends to bend down from the skies to speak to
us, and to offer us instructions suitable to our
particular wants and necessities. Let us, therefore,
listen to the instructions which it contains, with
that holy avidity which a hunger and thirst after
justice inspires. Let us, at the same time, re
member that if the word of God does not prove
the means of our correction in time, it will cer
tainly rise to our condemnation in eternity; for
it will not return to God without effect, either
196 EXPLANATION OF THE
as our reward or as our condemnation. To this
purpose are those words of our Lord, to certain
Jews : " Those who are of God, listen to the words
" of God ; hut you do not listen to them, because
"you arc not of God." (St. John viii. 47.) One
principal object of public worship is, to enlighten
and strengthen our faith, to teach us what we are
to believe and to practise, " for without faith it
" is impossible to please God ;" " faith comes by
" hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
(Rom. x. 17.) "And faith without works is dead
in itself." (St. James ii. 26.) Hence St. Paul
says: " Give attention to reading, meditating on
" these things, that thy proficiency may be mani
fest to all." (1 Timothy iv.)
The apostles, while engaged in propagating
and establishing Christianity, could not remain
long in one place, but were continually passing
from country to country. In their solicitude to
enlighten and confirm in the faith the converts
they had made, they frequently wrote to the
different Churches they had founded, Epistles,
full of heavenly wisdom and doctrine, and suitable
to tlu.ii spiritual wants. They commanded them
to be read, not only to the faithful to whom
they were addressed, but also in all the surround
ing churches. These Epistles were received with
the greatest veneration, being inspired by the
Holy Ghost, and were preserved with the utmost
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 197
care. The bishops made it their duty to expound
and inculcate their contents. Hence the universal
custom of reading during divine Service, a portion
of the letters of the apostles, especially of those
of St. Paul. We should listen to the reading
of them, as if SS. Peter, Paul, or John were
actually speaking to us ; for it is their very words
that then resound in our ears, as they resounded
in the cars of our ancestors in the faith.
We should pray that they would make on
our minds and hearts the same impressions
they made on the minds and hearts of the
primitive Christians. We should listen to the
reading of them in the spirit of prayer, which
solicits the ability to comprehend these divine
precepts, and the facility to practise them. Not
content with listening to the word of God read
in the temple, we should, on our return to
our respective homes, peruse it again, that,
being the more impressed with the truths it con
tains, we may the more feelingly enter into the
spirit of it, and derive more abundant graces
from it.
To St. Jerome do we owe the selection of the
portions of the Epistles and Gospels that are
publicly read on Sundays, and on the principal
festivals, in our churches ; which selection was
adopted by Pope St. Damasus.
It was from the Piornan Church, the mother
198 EXPLANATION OF THE
and mistress of all churches, that all the national
churches of Christendom received this selection.
It is not without good reason, that the Epistle
is read before the Gospel ; for thus, the voice of
the prophets, and of the apostles, prepares us to
listen to a voice still more holy, to that of the
Son of God Himself, the Master of the prophets
and of the apostles. During His public life He
sent the Baptist, and His apostles, two and two,
to prepare His ways. The Introit, and the
Epistle, are, as it were, the dawn of the morn,
which precedes the brilliant rays of the rising Sun
of the Gospel.
THE GOSPEL.
"Last of all, in these days, God lias spoken to us by
" His Son, by whom lie created all things." (Heb. i.)
The custom of reading to the assembled faithful
a portion of the Gospel on Sundays and holy-days,
commenced immediately after the Gospel was com
mitted to writing. What indeed can be more
necessary than that they who assist at the sacrifice
of Christ, should be fully instructed in His doctrine,
in His precepts, and in His actions, and should
publicly testify their respect and love for them ?
The Gospel is read at the corner of the altar
opposite to that at which the Epistle was read, in
order to represent the passing from the old to the
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
new covenant of God with mankind. While passin
to the Gospel corner of the altar, the priest bows
down before the middle thereof, and, reflecting
how unworthy his lips are to utter divine oracles,
he begs of the Almighty to purify both his heart and
his lips, as He once did, with a burning coal, the
lips of the Prophet Isaiah ; and thus enable him
worthily to announce His Gospel.
" All Scripture, being divinely inspired," is the
word of God, and, as such, is entitled to our
respect; yet a distinction is properly observed
between the Gospel of Christ and the writings of
the apostles; for the former emanated imme
diately from the very lips of the God-Man Him
self, and therefore a more marked attention is due
to it. Hence, when the priest arrives at the
Gospel corner of the altar, the whole congrega
tion, through respect for the word of God, and to
show their readiness to follow Christ, stands up
simultaneously, to listen to the reading of it in
that respectful posture. In the ages of faith, at
the reading of the Gospel, the Knights of Malta,
as also, the once gallant Polish nobility, drew
their swords from their scabbards, and stood m
a military attitude, thereby testifying their readi
ness to shed their blood in defence of Chris
tianity. History, which records their noble deeds
of valour, is there to attest that this was no
mere vain idle ceremony.
200 EXPLANATION OF THE
While pronouncing flic name of the Evangelist,
of whose Gospel a portion is about to Le read,
the priest and the people make the sign of the
cross on their foreheads, on their mouths, and on
their breasts. We are thus reminded of the great
blessings conferred on us by our Saviour s passion,
which arc unfolded in the sacred volume, a por
tion of which is ahout to be read. We sign our
foreheads with the sign of the cross, to show
that we are not ashamed of Christ s doctrine ; we
sign our mouths with it, to show that we will
never deny it ; and our breasts, to show that we
entertain a sincere attachment and affection for it
in our hearts, and that we will ever make it the
rule of our conduct, The clerk then answers,
Glory le to God ! Yes, glory be to God, who has
called us out of the darkness of ignorance into
* admirable light, and who has enlightened
us with the knowledge of His truth, and
pointed out to us the paths of justice and of
salvation ; for in those portions of Scripture that
rc read to us we find examples to imitate, myste-
to exercise our faith, promises to entertain
>ur hopes, rules to direct our conduct, threats to
restrain us from sin, and grace to make us love
and practise what they prescribe. Let us, then,
ten to them with awe, veneration, docility, con
fidence, and fidelity. With the same act of
se, which marked the commencement of the
LITOIGY OF THE MASS. 201
Gospel, docs it also terminate : Praise Ic to Thee,
Christ. Never was praise better bestowed.
Yvliat are we of ourselves ? Captives of Satan,
exiles from heaven, travellers passing through the
desert of this life, this valley of tears. What is
the Gospel? Good news: to captives, the good
news of their deliverance ; to exiles, permission to
return to their native country and homes ; to
weary and anxious travellers, news that a safe
and charitable guide has descended from heaven
to lead and guide them thither. Were we fully
sensible of what we should still be without the
Gospel, what we were before we knew it, and what
we should again become without it; with what
deep sense of gratitude should we repeat, Praise
Ic to Thcc, O Christ. Praise and Glory to Christ,
the Saviour of the world! Let us beg of God
that, as we firmly believe in the Gospel of Christ,
so we may faithfully live up to it.
THE CREED.
"With the heart, wo believe unto justification; but
" with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation."
Horn. x. 10.
"Without faith, it is impossible to please God. He
" that eometh to God must believe that He is, and is a
" re warder of them that seek Him." Heb. xi. C.
The Mass being a complete homage offered to
God, a full profession of our faith should be
202 EXPLANATION OF THE
embodied therein ; for God requires of us by
faith to humble our understandings to His word,
as we humble our bodies to Him by our external
homage, and submit our actions to Him, by
regulating them according to His commandments.
Christ died for all men, " that whosoever believ-
" cth in Him, may not perish, lut have eternal
" life: (St. John iii.) The Church being the
interpreter of His word, we are all obliged to
adopt her interpretation thereof, under penalty of
being regarded as heathens and publicans. (St.
Matt, xviii. 17.) The creed is a summary of the
doctrine which she proposes to our belief. The
Creed here repeated is the Nicene Creed, drawn up
A.D. 325. The Apostles Creed is but a short
account, almost without commentary, of the life of
Christ, an abridgment of the instructions which
the primitive converts received before baptism.
This Creed was sufficient while the primitive
Christians were all practice, and knew not how to
dispute about religion, but to live according to it,
and to die for God. They did not then talk great
things ; but honoured God, and preached to their
neighbours by their good conduct ; in a word,
they lived the Gospel. But when the charity of
any grew cold, when some refused to submit
oir understanding^ to the yoke of faith, the
urcli, which Christ had commissioned to teach
all nations, and with which He had promised to
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 203
abide for ever, in order to preserve in its purity
the deposit of faith, to reduce every height that
exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and
to bring into captivity every understanding to the
obedience of Christ, the Church, I say, placed in
their true and full light the mysteries of faith ;
and in so doing, made several additions to the
Apostles Creed. Hence the three other Creeds,
are but the Apostles Creed, together with the
explanations made by the Church at different
periods, in condemnation of the successively rising
heresies.
Thus, relatively to God the Father, the Church,
in opposition to the Manichean heresy, which
admitted two creative principles, a good and a
bad one, inserted in the Creed the words, " I
11 believe in one God, the Almighty, maker of all
" tilings, visible and invisible."
On the divinity of Christ, the Apostles Creed
has only, " and in Jesus Christ, His only Son,
"our Lord:" whereas, the Church, in condemna
tion of the Arian heresy, which denied the Divi
nity of Christ, has added: "And in one Lord
" Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born
"of the Father before all ages; God of God;
"Light of Light; True God of True God;
" begotten, not made ; consubstantial to the Father,
"by whom all things were made."
And on the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, the
204 EXPLANATION OF THE
Apostles Creed lias only, " I believe in the Holy
" Ghost:" whereas, the Church, in condemnation
of the heresy of Maceclonins, who denied the
Divinity of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of
the Holy Trinity, has inserted in the Creed :
"And hi the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of
" Life, u-lin proceedeth from the Father and the
" Son,- who, together with the Father and the Son,
" is adored and glorified ; who spoke ly the pro-
"2>ltets."
The faith which we profess is always the same,
whichever of the three formularies we recite,
that of the Apostles, of Nicea, or of Saint Athana-
sius. In each of these we shall find the same
mysteries, and we should profess them with the
same sentiments of faith and veneration. Let
this declaration, " I believe" he ever on our lips,
hut more especially let it Le engraven on our
hearts ; and let us resolve to make our actions
correspond with our professions.
The Creed terminates with these words: "I
o in the lif,> of the world to come." Yes,
believe in a future life ; I expect it with all
the fervour of hope. I demand it with all the
energy that the Spirit of God can inspire; I will
o myself for the possession thereof with all
seal and fidelity that the grace of God can
my heart : till admitted into the realms
, I will never cease to repeat here
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 205
below the Amen which is expressive of tlic most
ardent desire thereof.
At tlie moment that the mystery of the Incar
nation is announced, all kneel to honour by this
act of humiliation the profound humility of Jesus
Christ ; for a God who is humble should bo ap
proached only in humility. How great is the
sacrifice which a God was pleased to make in
order to secure our freedom from the bondage of
sin. An humbled God, should bo approached not
only with apparent, but also with sincere humility.
He to whom all nature is subject condescends
to become a man of poverty ; He who was
descended from the Kings of Judah, and was
established the King of Nations, condescended to
become a man unknown and of nought ; He who
had never by sin merited death, became mortal,
to deliver us from slavery and restore us to
liberty.
It is not a barren faith with which the Church
seeks to inspire us, by commanding us to make
this public profession of our faith. In order to be
profitable, our faith must be firm, not doubting or
hesitating ; for it cannot have a stronger founda
tion than the veracity of God, upon which all the
articles of faith are grounded : it must be unicer-
sal, embracing every article, for they are all
equally the word of God; it luiist be in our
hearts; we must have a great respect for all its
20G EXPLANATION OF THE
objects, for there is no part of our religion but
which deserves our veneration. Our faith must
be lively, manifesting itself in all our actions, for
unless our lives be better than the lives of those
who have no faith, our condemnation will un
doubtedly be much greater. Let us never, there
fore, separate the faith of our minds from the prac
tice of our lives. Let us cherish this precious gift
with which God has favoured us, by always aspir
ing after Him who is the great object thereof:
we must show our faith in our words, by always
speaking respectfully of religion, and of every
thing belonging to it ; in our conduct, by avoiding
all those whose conversation would tend to weaken
our faith, which ought to be the chief ornament
and honour of our lives : " for the just man lives
ly faith." In a word, we are to be totally guided
by the precepts of that faith which was given us
to be our chief consolation here, and the effectual
means of conducting us to an uninterrupted bliss
hereafter, when faith shall be swallowed up in
reality.
On Sundays and holy days of obligation, the
reading of the Gospel is followed by an instruction
on some article of the Creed, on one of the com
mandments, or on one of the sacraments ; lest that
" the little ones should ask for bread, and that
" there should be none to break it unto them."
(Lamentations iv. 4.)
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 207
SECOND ARTICLE.
PREPARATION OF TEE MATTER OF THE SACRIFICE.
Tins part of the Liturgy greatly rises in im
portance over the preceding. This is properly the
commencement of the Sacrifice. The prayers and
lessons which I have hitherto endeavoured to
explain are merely of a preparatory nature. This
is the moment in which the Church really begins
to act, and to offer the Victim. This may, in
some degree, be considered an essential part of
the Sacrifice. The nearer we approach the essen
tial act of the Sacrifice, the more interesting does
the matter become, and consequently, a renewal of
attention and devotion is here necessary.
An offering up to God of the matter or victim
of the sacrifice is an essential part thereof. But
this is not that offering ; this is but a prepara
tory offering ; for as yet it is only bread and wine,
and therefore of value only from what it will
become when changed by the words of consecra
tion into the Body and Blood of Christ.
208 EXPLANATION OF THE
OFFERTORY.
" la a contrite and humble heart let us be accepted."
Daniol iii. ;!).
The principal disposition which this part of the
Sacriiice requires is that of a contrite and humble
heart. The Church here particularly directs our
attention to this twofold disposition, in order that
this oblation, which of its nature is necessarily
acceptable to God, it being His only-begotten Son
who here humbles Himself in presence of His
Eternal Father, may become profitable to us, by
the union of our dispositions with those of our
Divine Saviour.
But in order fully to understand the particular
nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass, it is necessary
to know, who is the chief priest thereof, to whom
is the oiierhu; made, what is the nature of the
ottering, and for what end it is offered.
1. Yvno is the Chief Priest or offerer of the
Sacrifice of the Mass. The principal offerer
thereof is no other than Jesus Christ. He alone
is the eternal priest " according to the order of
Melehiscdech;" (Psalm cix.) the High Priest of
the good tilings to come, who, having no sins of
His own to expiate, is fully entitled to offer
sacrifice for the sins of mankind. In considera
tion 01 I ho honour due to His Divine Person, and
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 209
of His obedience to His Eternal Father unto
death, this sacrifice is sure of finding acceptance,
for He here renews, by the hands of the priest,
those august functions which He is continually
performing in heaven, offering His precious Body
as a ransom for sin, and His precious Blood to
efface the stains of our souls. Hence we say in
our maimrJs : " We offer to Thee, God, by the
" hands of our High Priest, Jesus Christ Thy
" Son, the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood, in
" union with the Sacrifice He once offered to Thee
" on the cross."
2. The Church, through and with Jesus Christ,
offers up this sacrifice. In consequence of the
union of the Church with Christ, of whom she is
the mystical body, she cooperates with Him in
whatever He does, and through Him, has a right
to present to the Eternal Father a living, holy,
and unpolluted Victim.
3. The visible priest offers up this Sacrifice in
the name of the Church ; for he is anointed and
consecrated with holy oil for the performance of
this awful function. The Almighty is graciously
pleased to consider his hands, as those of the
Church, or of Jesus Christ Himself.
4. and lastly. The faithful offer it up by the
hands of the priest, in the name of the Church,
and through the merits of Jesus Christ. Hence
we read in ou manuals : " Accept, God, this
14
210 EXPLANATION OF THE
" offering made to Thee by Thy minister, in the
" name of all present, and of Thy whole Church,
" triumphant, militant, and suffering in Purga-
" tory."
II. To whom is the offering of the Sacrifice of
the Muss made ? It is made to the Eternal
Father, in memory of the Passion, Resurrection,
and Ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and to the adorable Trinity, as an homage
to atone for the outrage offered to it by sin, and
as a thanksgiving for the inestimable benefit of
our justification.
III. Who is it that is offered ? It is Jesns
Christ, who is a true Holocaust, a Victim of pro
pitiation for sin, a Victim of thanksgiving, a Vic
tim of pacification ; in a word, He in whom every
species of oblation is comprised, and who, by this
single oblation, consummates the eternal sanctifi-
cation of the whole world.
IV. What are the motives of this Sacrifice ?
The bread and wine are first successively offered
up, and afterwards simultaneously or conjointly.
The broad and wine are first offered up suc-
ccssirclij for the four great ends of sacrifice. The
offering of them is also made in the name of all
present, both priest and people, and of the whole
Church of Christ ; for the living and for the dead ;
for the just and for sinners ; for all their necessi
ties, spiritual and temporal ; that all may obtain
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 211
pardon of their sins, offences, and negligences ;
and beseeching the Divine Majesty, that the offer
ing may ascend before His clemency as a sweet
odour for the salvation of all.
These motives are expressed in the two separate
oblations of the bread and wine.
The bread and wine are afterwards conjointly
offered up, in compliance with the Divine com
mand, in commemoration of our Saviour s Passion,
Resurrection, and Ascension.
The Oblation, like all the other parts of the
Mass, commences with prayer ; for the Church
considers the fruit of all her religious exorcises to
be dependent on prayer. Hence the priest says
aloud, " Let us pw/y." He at the same time ele
vates the Host upon the paten, raises his eyes
towards Heaven, where God has fixed the throne
of His glory, where the Victim of universal efficacy
offers a perpetual sacrifice to His Eternal Father,
and whence both the benediction which is to con
secrate the Host, and the sacred lire which is to
consume the Victim, arc to descend. He after
wards lowers his looks towards the Host, because
it does not become man to fix an indiscreet and
presumptuous look upon God, and God admon
ishes him to look into himself, to consider his
miseries and bewail his offences.
Let us, then, transport ourselves in spirit to that
most important moment when Jesus Christ, after
212 EXPLANATION OF THE
having taken the bread into His hands, and ren
dered thanks to His Eternal Father, took also the
wine and blessed it, assuring His apostles that
He would drink no more of the fruit of the vine
till He had entered His kingdom.
While making the Oblation, the priest secretly
recites the following prayer of oblation : "Accept,
" Holy Father, Almighty Eternal God, this im-
<( maculate Host, which I, Thy unworthy servant,
" offer Thee, my living and true God, for my
" innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, for
" all now present, moreover for all faithful
" Christians, living and dead, that it may be
" profitable for my own and for their salvation
" unto eternal life. Amen."
Before depositing the Host and the chalice on
the altar, he makes the sign of the cross with
each of them, to signify that the oblation derives
all its efficacy from the Cross and Passion of our
Redeemer.
THE MIXTURE OF THE WINE AND WATER.
He, at the Epistle corner of the altar, then
pours into the chalice the wine for consecration,
mixing with it a small quantity of water, and say
ing : "0 Go,l } u-lio didst wonderfully form the
"substance <>f man, and yet more wonderfully re-
"generate it, nrant m, Inj the mystery of this wine
"and water, to le united with His divinity, who
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 213
"t
ieigncd to "become partaker of our humanity,
" Tlnj Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
It is by order of tlie Church, on tlie strength of
a most ancient, and, as it is supposed, an apos
tolical tradition, that the water is added to the
wine. This practice is symbolical of the Incarna
tion ; the wine, as the more precious element,
representing the Divinity of Christ ; the water, as
inferior, representing His sacred humanity. We
are here reminded of the whole history of man,
of his creation in a state of perfection, of his fall
and degradation, of Satan s victory over him, and
of his restoration and sanctification by Jesus
Christ.
Having returned to the middle of the altar,
holding up the chalice, and looking up to the
crucifix, he pronounces the prayer of oblation:
" We offer Thee, Lord, the chalice of salvation,
" beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend in
" the sight of Thy Divine Majesty with the odour
" of sweetness for our salvation, and for the salua-
" tion of the whole world. Amen"
This noble prayer, to use the words of Ter-
tullian, declares Jesus Christ to be the universal
priest of His Eternal Father ; His blood having
purified heaven and earth : " for He is the Vic-
" tim of propitiation for our sins, and not only
" for ours, but for those of the whole world." (1
St. John ii. 2.)
214 EXPLANATION OF THE
After this prayer, lie, with the chalice, makes
the sign of the cross on the altar, thereby
showing that he places the offering on the cross of
Jesus Christ.
But, fearing lest his unworthiness should ren
der the sacrifice less agreeable to God, he bows
down, and, with hands joined, and placed on the
edge of the altar, he, in the attitude of supplica
tion, repeats, in the name of the assistants, that
humble prayer offered up by the three Israelitish
youths, at Babylon, previously to their being cast
into tho fiery furnace. (Daniel iii. 39.) " In the
spirit of humility, and in a contrite and humble
" heart, grant us, Lord, to be received by
riicc ; and let this our sacrifice be so made in
Thy sight, that it may please Thee, Lord
"God."
liaising, then, up towards heaven his hands, and
immediately lowering them, thereby invoking the
Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Fire, the Sanctifying
Spirit, which occasionally consumed the ancient
holocausts, and which now daily consumes our
offerings in a miraculous manner, he prays:
Come, Sanctlfier, Almighty Eternal God, and
bless this sacrifice, prepared for the glory of Thy
"^ holy name." At the word Hess, he makes the
sign of the cross over the chalice and over the
, to give to understand, that it is through the
Sacrifice of the Cross that he looks for the coming
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 215
of the Holy Ghost, to change the bread and wins
into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
He again moves to the Epistle corner of the
altar, where he washes the tips of his fingers in a
small vessel prepared for that purpose. The sym
bolical meaning of this action is, to remind him
of the purity required of those who come before
God at His altar. This practice is of apostolical
tradition, originating in the custom of the Jews,
who frequently washed their hands during their
sacrifices. The latter part of the twenty-fifth
Psalm, which is then repeated, is singularly appro
priate, both to the act of washing, and to the
purity which the Sacrifice demands. Observe, that
in all the preceding prayers, the minister has,
either in his own name, or in that of the people,
always acknowledged himself a sinner, incessantly
solicited mercy and indulgence, and washed the
extremities of his fingers, lest that, notwithstand
ing all his precautions, some secret weakness may
still lurk behind, unknown and unrepcntcd of.
216 EXPLANATION OF THE
CONTINUATION OF THE OBLATION SIMULTANEOUS
OBLATION OF THE BREAD AND WINE.
" Siiscipe sancta Trinitas," etc.
Having offered up, in the name of the Church,
the bread and wine, and the faithful having also
offered them with him, to recognize the supreme
dominion of God over them, and to expiate their
sins, the priest returns to the middle of the
altar, bows down and makes to the Holy Trinity
another oblation, expressing, at the same time, his
object in so doing. He had above made a sepa
rate oblation of the bread and wine ; he now makes
a simultaneous oblation of them both, in memory
of the mysteries of Christ s Death, Resurrection,
and Ascension, and in honour of the saints ; that
is to say, to thank God for the favours conferred
by Him on them, and to merit their protection.
"Receive," says he, " Ilohj Trinity, this obla-
" tlon which we male Thee, in memory of the
" Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our
" Lord Jesus Christ; in honour of the Blessed
"Mary ever a Virgin, of Blessed John the Bap-
" tist, and of the holy apostles Saints Peter and
"Paul, of these, and of all the saints; that it
li may avail to their honour, and to our salvation;
" that they, whose memory we celebrate on earth,
" may vouchsafe to pray for us in heaven. Through
" the same Christ our Lord."
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 217
Tins prayer reminds us that it is as an ever
lasting memorial of Christ s Passion, Resurrec
tion, and Ascension, that we frequent the holy
Sacrifice of the Mass ; and that we celebrate on
earth the memory of the saints, that they may
obtain mercy for us through Jesus Christ, before
the throne of God in heaven.
This prayer contains, though in a different
degree, the names of all those who have any right
to the sacrifice. First, God the Father, to whom
the Sacrifice is offered : Jesus Christ, who, as the
Victim thereof, is offered in memory of His Pas
sion, Resurrection, and Ascension; and conse
quently, as raised up before the throne of God, to
be always present before Him, to plead our cause.
The Church of heaven, as also that of earth, are
mentioned, because they join in partaking of the
universal sacrifice. The Church on earth partakes
Bacramentally thereof, and thence derives addi
tional benefits. The Church triumphant also
partakes thereof, in an invisible manner, by the
communication of the glorious life of Jesus
Christ.
While offering up this prayer, the priest bows
down, with his hands joined on the edge of the
altar, thereby acknowledging himself unworthy to
offer to the Almighty this great sacrifice, and
to show how innocent one should be to appear
before God on the part of mankind.
218 EXPLANATION OF THE
ORATE FEATRES.
" Pray for us ; pray for one another that 3-011 may be
saved." Hebrews xiii. 18. ; St. James v. 16,
Prayer is the duty of every Christian, and the
very essence of spiritual life. The grace of God,
which animates and supports us in a course of
holiness, is but the effect of prayer, bestowed
upon us by the Almighty. A Christian ought not
to con fine his prayers to his own personal necessi
ties : the Church, which prays for all, wishes all
her children to unite in one common prayer for
their common necessities. To this, she exhorts
them in the words of the text: " Pray for one
"another."
She considers salvation as the reward, not only
of him who is the object of the prayer, but also of
him who prays, and of that charity which teaches
us to sympathise in the miseries of our brethren,
as though they were our own.
^Thc priest kisses the altar, which is an emblem
or Jesus Christ, in order thence to draw those
y dispositions, of the necessity of which he is
more and more convinced. In order to obtain
for the faithful, lie turns towards them and
addresses them, extending his arms, as if wishing
to embrace them, saying, "Pray, my brethren,
"that this my sacrifice and yours may prove
LITUHGY OF THE MASS. 210
" acceptable to God the Father Almighty. 19 " May
" the Lord" replies the congregation, " May the
" Lord receive this sacrifice from thy hands, to the
"praise and glory of Ills name, to our benefit,
" and to that of all His holy Church."
Pray, for our mutual interests are here nearly
concerned. Brethren, you are my brethren in
Jesus Christ. This sacrifice is my sacrifice and
yours. It is my sacrifice, since I have been es
tablished in the ministry thereof. It is also yours,
in a sense, indeed, less extensive, but not the
less real. I am about to offer it through Jesus
Christ, while you are about to offer it with Him,
and by my hands. It is of the utmost im
portance that this sacrifice should prove acceptable
to God the Father.
For God, who is great, powerful, and just, may
behold such injustices in our hands, such criminal
desires in our heart?, and such stains on our con
sciences, as to render us unworthy to participate
in the fruits of this sacrifice ; and it is with a
view to engage you to enter into fresh sentiments
of grief and sorrow for our mutual offences, that
I here renew my solicitations to you to pray.
To an invitation so justly made, and so bene
ficial in its consequences, the faithful reply :
Yes, we pray, we demand with all the ardour of
our souls, that thy God and ours man receive this
sacrifice from thy hands. We beseech the
220 EXPLANATION OF THE
Almighty that thy hands may be effectually raised
towards heaven, as well for us as for yourself.
"We will never forget that the primary object of
this sacrifice is to make due reparation to the
Almighty, for the glory of which we have defrauded
Him by our sins. May this sacrifice le conducive
to our benefit. May its efficacy extend to all our
necessities, and purify our souls ; may it shed the
light of wisdom upon our minds, inflame our
hearts, and guide our steps. Let us not, at the
same time, lose sight of the general interests of
His holy Church.
It is to God the Father that the sacrifice is
about to be presented. Jesus Christ, our Brother,
is to be the offerer thereof. It is to be offered by
a minister chosen from amongst us ; and it was
for the sanctification of all mankind that this
tremendous mystery, which is about to be re
newed, was originally consummated.
The principal motive of the prayer Orate Fra-
tres is, that the nearer we approach the moment
of the sacrifice, the more necessary do prayer and
recollection become.
The priest will not again turn round to the peo
ple till the sacrifice is accomplished, and the com
munion received. The reason is, because he is now
entering upon the more solemn part of the Mass,
which includes the consecration and communion;
and which therefore requires his whole attention,
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
221
that must not henceforth be distracted by turning
away from this sacred object. When, therefore, the
priest turns to the people for the last time, at the
Orate Fratrcs, you may consider him as taking
leave of you, and entering, as the High Priest for
merly did, into the Holy of Holies. Hitherto he
has prayed like one of yourselves, standing in the
midst of you, speaking and praying aloud, that
you might join with him. With you and for you,
he made the confession of his sins ; gave praise to
God at the Gloria ; read the Epistle and Gospel
for your instruction ; joined, at the Creed, in one
profession of faith : but now he separates from
the people. Like Moses, he leaves us at the foot
of the mount, while he ascends to the summit to
converse with God alone.
THE SECRET
Is one or more prayers, which always correspond
in number and subject with the Collect, com
memorate the same solemnity, or beg the inter
cession of the same saint, as was mentioned in the
Collect.
222 EXPLANATION OF THE
THE PREFACE.
" Thou art worthy, Lord our God, to receive glory
and honour, and power, bec.nuso Thou hast created
" all tiling, and for Thy will they have been created.
"The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power,
"and diviniiv, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,
"and glory, and benediction." Apocalypse iv. 11 ; v. 12.
As we advance in tlio Liturgy of the Mass, the
dignity and importance of the subject increases
at each step. The Preface is an introduction to
the sacred Canon, or action of the sacrifice, which
is the most solemn part of the whole Mass.
After the Orate Fratrcs, we beheld the priest
quitting the people, and bidding them, as it were,
a solemn adieu, by recommending himself to their
prayers ; wo observed that he entered the Holy of
Holies, not to return thence till the mystery of
our redemption should be consummated. Accord
ingly, in the Greek and Oriental churches a curtain
is then let to fall, which divides the sanctuary from
the body of the church ; and in the Western Church
it was formerly the custom to close the gates of tho
sanctuary before the Preface, in order to announce
the absence and separation of the priest from the
rest of the faithful, which is requisite, while he is
wrapt in holy communion with God, and honoured
with His most intimate communications.
The Preface is a sublime and affecting form of
LITURGY OF THE MASS.
adoration, praise, and thanksgiving ; made to God
through Jesus Christ our mediator ; in which wo
intreat the supreme Lord of heaven and earth to
permit us to join our voices with those of the
angelic choirs in proclaiming His eternal praises.
Still, from the hallowed recesses of the sanc
tuary, the priest addresses the people in the most
pathetic strains and exhortations. This reminds
us of the mystery of Jesus Christ at the same
time present in heaven and on earth ; on earth to
instruct and animate us, in heaven to protect and
defend us. Let us, therefore, attend to him with
docility when he solicits our prayers.
The words: "Per omma sccida sceculorum"
are the last words of the conclusion of the Secret
prayer, or prayers, and mean "for ever and crrr."
The conclusion of the Secret is as follows :
" Through Christ our Lord, who with the Father
" and the Son, livcth throughout all ages. Amen."
The priest raises his voice at the last words, " per
"omnia scecula sceculorum," that the faithful may
join in and sanction the petition contained in the
Secret prayer. This shows that the people should
join with the priest in this prayer, and ask of God
the same graces.
He then pronounces the benediction, Dominus
VoUscnm, which he has already so often bestowed ;
but, being no longer considered as in the midst
of them, he docs not turn round towards them ;
221 EXPLANATION OF THE
but pronounces in a voice sufficiently audible,
" Domuuis Volriscum The Lord be with you."
liaising up, then, liis hands from the altar, lie
thus addresses the people : " Lift up your hearts :"
as if to say: "Withdraw them entirely from
earth; put yourselves in communion with the
" angels in heaven, that we may worthily together
" prepare for the coming of the Lord." The
people, in the person of the minister, respond,
" Our hearts are already lifted up, ami with the
" Lord."
If ever there be a time when our minds, so bent
down to this earth, should raise themselves from
all its groveling concerns, and aspire to heaven, it
is surely at the time of prayer, and in the hour of
sacrifice, when we are told to ascend in spirit, and
join the heavenly choirs in singing the praises of
our great Creator.
The priest proceeds : " Let us r/ive thanJcs to the
" Lord our God." Let us thank Him for all His
benefits, especially for the eucharistic sacrifice.
To this the clerk, in the name of the people,
answers : " It is ri jht and just that we should do
"so." It is rif/ht, on account of the manifold
blessings we receive from Him; and just, for
thanksgiving i s the least return we can in justice
make to God for all His favours.
The priest here begins the Preface, by echoing
the pious sentiment of the response, and repeating
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 225
it with increased force. " It is truly right and
" salutary." To being proper and just, he adds
motives of our own interest : "it is available to
"salvation, that we should always, and in all
" places, cjive thanks to Thee." Accordingly, the
Psalmist (Psalm cii.) bids us to bless the Lord
in every place, and at all times, and that His
praise should always be in our mouths.
" holy Lord, Almighty Father, eternal God."
Yes, we owe Him adoration as our Sovereign
Lord and God, who is full of sanctity, and who
exists for ever and ever, and as our Father, who
is all-powerful, and willing to assist us His chil
dren.
But, however just it is that we should adore,
thank, and praise Him, our homage will not be
accepted, unless offered " through Jesus Christ our
Lord." For He is our mediator with God.
" Him we have for our advocate with the Father;
" and by Him we have access, through faith, into
" this grace, wherein we stand." (Rom. v. 2.) He
is God by nature, and man by obedience ; at
once our Lord, and sovereign ruler of heaven and
earth. He holds the middle space between the
city of the living God, and the terrestrial Jeru
salem.
" By whom the ann els praise Thy majesty, the
" dominations adore it, the powers tremble before
15
226 EXPLANATION OF THE
" it, the heavens, the heavenly virtues and blessed
" seraphim with common jubilee glorify it."
A principal point of view, in which the Preface
is entitled to our particular consideration is,
that the great object of it is to unite the Church
militant on earth with the Church triumphant
in heaven, in praising God. The priest here
prays in the name of the faithful as well as
of himself: " In union with whom (the angels)
"we beseech Thee, that Tliou wouldst command
" our voices also to be admitted, with suppliant
t( confession," &c.
The Church here prays that our voices may be
joined with those of the holy angels, who are
now actually assisting at the great sacrifice, and
preparing to commend it to the acceptance of the
Eternal Father. It is Jesus Christ that gives
utterance to our tongues that we may give praise
to His Eternal Father; and it is also through Him
that all the Heavenly Host render their homage to
the Divine Majesty, according to the varied ranks
which it has pleased Him to assign them. As,
then, we arc permitted to join our voices with
those of the blessed spirits in rendering a grateful
homage to our common Lord, we ought to endea
vour to resemble them as nearly as possible in the
fervour of their charity, and to copy their obe
dience and fidelity, that we may be found worthy
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 227
of being associated with, them in their canticles of
everlasting praise.
The Sanctus is a hymn which earth owes to
heaven, which the Church triumphant in heaven
has sent to the Church militant on earth, that the
latter may learn to repeat it in the place of her
exile, hoping that her members may one day join
with them in singing it in the regions of bliss.
The Prophet Isaias heard the seraphim in heaven
repeating it; and St. John declares that the
heavenly Jerusalem continually resounds with it.
While repeating the Sanctus the priest lowers
his voice, to excite attention ; but still continues
it in an audible tone, that the faithful may join
with him in repeating it. AYhile repeating this
canticle he bows down, with hands joined.
A bell is then rung, to give warning that the
priest is about to commence the Canon, during
which the consecration is to be effected. Hosanna
is an energetic exclamation, like Amen and Alle
luia. It was with those words, " Hosanna in the
" highest ; Blessed is he tliat come (h in the name
" of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" that
the children of Jerusalem saluted our Lord on
His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. They are
here most appropriate, as our Lord is about to
become present on our altars. The priest makes
the sign of the cross upon himself, to intimate
that the action by which Christ is about to be
228 EXPLANATION OF THE
rendered present, is representative of the sacrifice
of the Cross.
The Sanctus and Benedictus constitute the gist
of the Preface : all that precedes is but a prepara
tion or introduction to them. It is in order to
this, that we may worthily join the angels in sing
ing these hymns, that at the commencement of
the Preface the priest warns the faithful to raise
up their hearts towards heaven.
The disposition of holy awe is necessary to
make us recite these hymns with effect ; for as
the angels while chanting them veil their counte
nances with their wi gs, so does the priest in
repeating them join his hands and bow down in
profound adoration. It is to a thrice-holy God
that our homages are addressed. Let, then,
every word of this canticle recall to our minds the
obligation which Ilis holiness imposes upon us of
endeavouring to imitate Him. Hence God Him
self says, " Be yc lioly, as I am holy" (1 Peter i,
1G.)
LITURGY OF THE MASS, 229
THIRD ARTICLE,
OR DIVISION OF THE LITURGY OF THE MASS.
THE CANON.
" From the rising of the sun, even till the going down
" thereof, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in
" every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to
My name a clean oblation. For My name is great
among the Gentiles, saitli the Lord of Hosts."-Mal.
i. 11.
The parts of the Mass which I have hitherto
explained, although most holy prayers and exer
cises, form no essential part of the sacrifice, being
only immediate preparations for it. We are now
come to the very action of the Sacrifice, as this
part of the Liturgy is sometimes called.
It is commonly called the Canon, or fixed rule
of prayers, by which the Sacrifice is commanded
by the Church to be offered up : it never varies
on any day of the year throughout the whole
Catholic Church. It extends to the Lord s
Prayer, and contains all the prayers that accom
pany the action of the Sacrifice, together with the
different applications of the merits thereof, and
of the intentions with which it is offered up.
The Canon consists of the very words of our
230 EXPLANATION OF THE
Lord Himself, of the traditions of the Apostles,
and of the ordinances of primitive martyred popes.
Its containing no names but those of the apostles
and primitive martyrs, shows that it is prior in
date to the fourth century of Christianity. Saints
Gregory the Great and Leo the Great, are the last
popes that have made any addition to the canon,
and these are inconsiderable ones.
Wherever the Church extends her authority,
every minister is subjected to the same essential
order of prayer, without being at liberty either to
add to or to retrench anything from the formulas
and ceremonies there prescribed. It has always
been, and ever will be, considered the most ex
cellent of all prayers, the Lord s prayer excepted,
that which imparts a value to all other prayers,
inasmuch as it is, of all others, the most inti
mately connected with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
No period can be assigned in which the Holy
Sacrifice was offered up under any other form of
prayers. The Universal Church has at all times
offered up to God the same supplications, and
observed the same rites and ceremonies.
The priest, during the whole time of the Canon,
holds his hands in an elevated posture, expressive
of the elevation of his and our hearts to heaven.
This should serve to remind us, that we must
make the most vigorous efforts to resist the spirit
of dissipation, so inimical to attention and fer-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 231
vour. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance
fully to understand the prayers that compose the
Canon of the Mass, that we may he feelingly im
pressed with the sentiments they breathe.
THE FIRST PRAYER OF THE CANON TE IGITUR.
" Then slialt Thou accept Hie sacrifice of justice,
oblations, and burnt-offerings." Psalm 1.
The Canon commences with a prayer for the
Church, and for those hy whom it is guided and
protected. We demand, in the first place, that
the fruits of this Sacrifice, may he applied to the
whole Catholic Church. She alone possesses
the right to participate therein, and to impart
its blessings to those who are attached to her
unity. She is the Church of God; she is His
household; she alone can in some measure be
truly said to partake of the immensity of God. It
is for her principally that the Sacrifice is offered
up ; that it may please the Almighty to grant her
peace, by keeping her under His protection, by
enlightening her with His wisdom, and animating
her with His charity. It is He who governs her
throughout the whole world, by presiding at the
instructions of her ministers.
Since, in order to produce these effects, she
stands in need of a visible head, partaking of the
sanctity of Him who is her invisible head, we
EXPLANATION OP THE
pray for the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, the
successor of the blessed Apostle St. Peter, who is
the rock upon which His Church is built, that he
may be in the midst of the Church a vigilant sen
tinel to guard her.
This prayer embraces the interests of the whole
Christian Church. For the same reason, we pray
for the bishop to whose care providence has, in a
more particular manner, intrusted us. Protected
by those whom God has given the Church for her
rulers, she requires the support also of her mem
bers.
Xo one is forgotten in this prayer. We pray for
all mankind, but particularly for those whom God
has united with us in the same holy faith. For,
though we ought to love and esteem every human
creature without exception, we may and ought to
have a particular regard for all whose faith is
orthodoxthat is, conformable to the doctrine of
the universal Church, and who profess with us
the Catholic and apostolical faith : all these have
an especial claim to a share in the general suppli
cation, and are entitled to the benefits of the
Sacrifice.
LITURGY OF THE MASS,
233
SECOND PRAYER OF THE CANON MEMENTO OF THE
LIVING.
Pray for one another." St. James v. 10.
To tliis general prayer for the whole Church
wo immediately add a particular prayer for our
friends, called the Memento of the Living, "because
we, at present, name only our living friends ;
another part of the Mass being appropriated for
the remembrance of the dead.
To pray for one another is a general duty of all
Christians. To some this duty is doubly urgent ;
for when any favour, spiritual or temporal, has
been conferred upon us, there arises an obligation
of making a grateful return by praying for our
benefactors, especially if it be out of our power
to make them any other recompense. This is an
exercise of the most tender and affectionate
nature, to commend, in the ardour of our devo
tion, to the divine protection the names of all
those who are most dear to us. It is here the
priest particularly prays for these for whom ho
offers up the Mass ; then for all those for whom
he is bound by particular motives of justice and
gratitude to pray ; namely, his benefactors, and his
spiritual children, whose difficulties, temptations,
234 EXPLANATION OF THE
or spiritual wants, are particularly known to him.
We here pray also for our relations.
On this occasion, the Church has adopted the
prayer of the good thief upon the cross. " Re-
" member me," said he, " ivhen Thou earnest into
Thy kingdom." So we now pray : " Remember,
" Lord, Thy servants, loth men and women, and
11 all here present, whose faith is known and their
" devotion manifest to Thee ; for whom ice offer
" up to Thee, or ivho offer, this sacrifice of praise ;
"for themselves and all theirs; for the redemption
" of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and
" safety, and ivho render their vows to Thee, the
" eternal living and true God."
The words remember, or, be mindful, Lord,
is only an expression accommodated to our man
ner of speaking. Unlike the children of men,
God is not subject to forgetfulness ; every crea
ture is constantly in His presence ; this mindful-
ness on His part, merely consists in affording us
sensible testimonies of His attention, and in pour
ing forth His graces and blessings upon us His poor
and needy creatures. All that we demand by this
form of address to the Almighty is, that He would
give us a sensible proof that our prayers are not
" Both men and women." These words
merely serve to remind the priest of the different
necessities of those whom he recommends.
"Remember," or "be mindful," continues the
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 235
priest, "of all here present;" for, independently
of the general right which all the members of the
Catholic Church have to partake of this oblation
in quality of children of the Church, those present
have a special right to the prayers of the priest, to
whom they are united by the oblation, and with
whom they may in some sense be said to offer it
up ; but at the same time that he makes this
prayer in their behalf, he gives them a lesson in
the following words: " whose faith and devotion
are known to Tliee, God ;" by reminding them
that these prayers are only conditional, and that he
has no intention to pray, except for those who
approach this sacrifice with a pure faith, and with
sentiments of true devotion, "for the redemption
of their souls, and for the hope of their salvation
and safety."
Those words show that this prayer is not con
fined to the mere mention of the faithful, who
offer, or for whom the sacrifice is offered ; it em
braces everything that regards them ; he there
fore solicits the redemption of their souls, through
the pardon of all their offences ; he prays for
their perseverance in the ways of salvation, by
their being supported in the midst of the perils by
which they are surrounded, with the cheering
hope of salvation ; he even solicits their preserva
tion in health, and an exemption from all the ills
that trouble the peace and happiness of life.
236 EXPLANATION OF THE
This prayer likewise extends to all those to
whom the faithful are united by the ties of blood
or friendship, or connected by the relations and
duties of society ; for ice pray for themselves
and for theirs: namely, their children, relatives,
friends, domestic inferiors, and all those whom
Providence has entrusted to their charge, because
each of those relations imposes its particular
duties, and requires those particular graces which
can only be demanded through Jesus Christ, and
obtained by the merits of His sacrifice.
Let us, therefore, banish from our hearts every
feeling contrary to the purity of this sacrifice ; let
us endeavour to render the prayers, which the
priest of Jesus Christ oilers up in our behalf,
worthy of the Victim who presents them, and
worthy of obtaining for us, and for all those who
are dear to us, the blessings of life eternal,
together with the graces that are proper to con
duct us thither. Amen.
THIRD PRAYER 0? THE CANON. INFRA ACTIONEM.
The meaning of this title is this : The priest,
having specified for whom ho is to offer the holy
sacrifice, now enters upon the most solemn part
of it, called the action, which commences with the
commemoration of tho saints in glory. Hence
the three next prayers which precede the con-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 237
eecration, and the three that follow it, are said
to be within the action of the Sacrifice, or infra
actioncm, or intra actionem.
THIRD PRAYER OF THE CANON
COMMUNICANTES, &C.
" I will save Jerusalem for My own sake, and for the
" sake of My servant David." 4 Kings xix. 34.
The communion of saints, by which the Church
on earth forms but one body with that of heaven,
separated indeed at present by time and place,
but destined for a perfect union in eternity,
is an article of our creed, which exalts the dignity
of man, fills him with hope, and cheers him up
in the difficult passages of life. This dogma
is here considered inasmuch only as it regards
the right which the saints in heaven have to our
homage, and that which faith gives us to their
protection. An article, of so much importance, is
with great propriety introduced into the prayers
of that Sacrifice which forms the subject of their
adoration as well as ours.
Having, by our prayers, done what we could
for the welfare of the Church on earth, we are
now anxious to secure the prayers of the members
of the same Church, who, haying completed the
time of their probation .here on earth, are now
enjoying their reward in heaven.
233 EXPLANATION OF THE
The following are the words of this prayer :
" Communicating ivith, and venerating the memory
" of, the glorious and ever blessed Virgin Mary,
" Mother of God, of the twelve apostles, of the
" martyrs, ami of all the saints, lij ivhose prayers
11 and merits grant, God, that in all things we
11 imnj be armed with the help of Thy protection,
" through the same Jesus Christ our Lord."
1. " Communicating with," that is, joining
with, claiming and asserting our privilege and
honour, as members of the true Church, of which
Christ is the Head, equally with the saints
in heaven, who are our elder brethren; with
them we join in the common homage we both
offer to the Creator of all things ; for our Sacrifice
is theirs also. Hence we read in our manuals :
We join our hearts and voices with all the
" blessed in heaven, and with Thy whole Church
< on earth ; we come to offer Thee with them our
" homages ; we desire with them to adore, praise,
" uud glorify Thee, and to give Thee thanks for
Thy great glory."
2> ] V( l vem>ra ^ the memories of the saints.
Augustine, " a great honour to
c named in the presence of our Lord, whilst W3
Bbrate His death in this awful sacrifice." At
* offering, each class of saints has its particular
commendation. 1. The Mother of our Lord stands
Bupereminent above all the saints, in considers
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 239
tion that the blood which is ahout to flow on our
altars, is that of her Son. After her, there are
none more venerable than the apostles, who learnt
from the mouth of Christ Himself, the value of
the sacrifice we are about to offer.
And what can be more just than that an honour
able mention should be made of the martyrs dur
ing the august Sacrifice ? Their blood mingled
with that of the Lamb, has been accepted as a
perfect holocaust. They have a peculiar claim to
our veneration, since they laid down their lives to
transmit to us the precious deposit intrusted to
their care.
3. In order to make us enter more feelingly into
the spirit of the communion of saints, the Church
advances one step beyond commemoration, and
authorizes us to invoke them especially as they owe
their own salvation to the efficacy of this Sacrifice.
Hence the priest prays : " By whose merits and
(l prayers, grant, O God, that we may be always
"defended ly the help of Thy protection, through
" Jesus Christ our Lord." What is it that we
demand of the saints but that, through their in
tercession, we may be always defended by the
Almighty, and enjoy the blessing of His protec
tion ; and that the angels would fill their censers
with the sweet perfume of the prayers of the
saints, and make it ascend before God in our
behalf. (Apoc. viii. 4.) The help of the saints
210 EXPLANATION OF THE
is but tli 3 protection of tho Almighty Himself,
who is tli 3 sole object of our vows and desires.
To God alone we attribute that foresight which
foresees all our necessities, and that omnipotence
which sustains us under all our trials ; all that
we ask of the friends of God is, that by the
help of their prayers, we may be made par
takers of the Divine mercy, and enjoy the aid of
His protection. But, as the saints derive all
their influence from Jesus Christ, it is through
this divine Saviour that we pray that their merits
may prove effectual in our regard.
Hence we say in our Manuals that through
Jesus Christ we hope to be one day admitted into
the company of all the saints and elect, with
whom we here on earth communicate in these
holy mysteries, whose memories we celebrate, and
whose prayers we desire.
FOURTH PRAYER OF THE CAXON. HANG IGITUR, &C.
"The priest shall put his hand upon the head of the
^victim, and it shall bo acceptable, and help to expia-
" lion." Leviticus i. 4.
In the preceding prayer, the Church on earth
entered into communion with the Church in
heaven. The two sisters joined in order to offer
up thc^ great sacrifice which rejoices them both.
Ilio priest is their minister. He is about to take
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 241
possession of the victim in their name. Behold
him extending his hands over the host and
chalice. This imposing ceremony carries us
back three thousand years. It reminds us of
Aaron, and his successors in the priesthood,
spreading their hands on the head of the victim,
thereby taking possession of it on the part of God,
and declaring that the animal whose blood was
about to flow, was substituted to suffer in their
own place, they being guilty and deserving of
death.
But it is no longer on the figurative victim that
the priest spreads his hands, but on the true
victim which has been expected during four thou
sand years. His hands, like Aaron s, proclaim
that it is he himself that is guilty, and who
should be sacrificed in the stead of the innocent
victim. With what awe should we not be seized
when we behold this august ceremony, and hear
the words by which the holiness of God is invoked
to take possession of the victim : " We entreat
" Thee, Lord, favourably to receive this oula-
" tlon, in acknowledgment of our servitude; to
" dispose our clays in Thy peace ; to preserve us
"from eternal damnation, and to reckon us among
" the number of Thy elect. Through Jesus Christ
" our Lord. Amen."
The first prayer of the Canon commenced thus :
" We therefore humbly pray and lesesck Thee."
16
242 EXPLANATION OF THE
We now read : " We therefore beseech Thee,
" Lord, graciously to accept this oblation;" to
remind us that the application of the merits of
this sacrifice can be obtained only by prayer.
It is termed the oblation of our servitude, because
it is a service, a duty, an obligation incumbent on
us, to offer up sacrifice to God. The priest here
speaks in his own name ; for he is not the less
obliged to acknowledge his dependance on God,
than the faithful, and the offering he makes of the
Body and Blood of Christ is an act of this acknow
ledgment. The faithful, who are ransomed by the
Blood of a God, are also consequently bound to
serve Him who has paid this infinite price for
their ransom. It is with a view constantly to keep
us in mind of the sovereign dominion of God
over His creatures, and of the Eedeemer over the
souls which He has purchased, that the Church
has ordained this sacrifice to be offered up as a
homage of our servitude.
It is also the homage and the oblation of Thy
ichole family. Of Thy Church, which Thou hast
brought forth upon the cross. It is the offering
which she presents to Thee in token of her
dependance, her gratitude, and her love. This
oblation embraces every one that belongs to her ;
nil who profess the same faith, immolate the
same Victim, unite in the same prayers, and soli
cit the same benedictions. Should this sacrifice
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 243
be offered up in the remotest corner of the earth ;
should the minister be surrounded but by a
handful of her children, still it would be the offer
ing of God s whole family.
This whole family, with united voice, solicits
three great favours, which include every other that
the heart of man can desire. First, That He would
dispose our days in His peace ; would enable us to
pass our clays in peace and harmony with one
another; and, above all, give us that interior peace
of mind which arises from the testimony of a good
conscience, which He alone can give. Secondly,
That He would deliver us from eternal damnation,
and, as a prelude to it, that He would preserve
us from mortal sin, which alone can expose us to
damnation; and, finally, that He would number
us among the flock of His elect. This will
form the completion of all our happiness, the
object which we strive to obtain by all our prayers
and exertions in the service of God.
Thus, peace in this world, exemption from sin,
and everlasting salvation are the advantages we
hope for from this sacrifice, all of which we ex
press in the above prayer. Let us ask them with
confidence. The Blood of the Second Abel is all
powerful to obtain them for us.
244 EXPLANATION OF THE
FIFTH PRAYER OF THE CANON, WHICH IMMEDIATELY
PRECEDES THE CONSECRATION QUAM
OBLATIONEM.
"God spoke, and all things were made." Psalm
xxxii. 9.
It is tlio same God who now, at the moment of
the Consecration, is about to speak, and whose
word is about to produce effects infinitely more
astonishing than the creation of the world, and
of all the wonders it contains. Let us listen to
what the ancient holy fathers have taught on this
subject.
Although the prayer Quam oblationcm , which
is derived from tradition, can bear no comparison
with the words of Christ, which are destined to
operate the greatest of our mysteries, yet it has
so intimate and indispensable a connection with
this mystery, and with the words by which it is
effected, that the holy lathers in all ages have not
hesitated to regard it as forming a part of the
consecration : not that the Church attributes to
these words, which she has joined to those of the
consecration, the same virtue as to those of
Jesus Christ. It is an article of faith, that the
substances of bread and wine are not changed till
the priest has pronounced the words of Christ;
but it is essential to the sacrifice, that the inten-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 245
tion of tlie Churcli, wliicli offers them, should be
manifested. The august sacrifice cannot be
validly offered up unless the intentions of the
offering priest are conformable to those of Jesus
Christ, our principal High Priest and Victim ;
now in the words of this prayer, the sentiments of
the Church are clearly and deterrninately ex
pressed. As, therefore, it is correct to say that
the words, "This is Mij Body: This is My
Blood," operate the mystery, so it is equally
correct to say, that the words which compose the
prayer Quam oUationcm are preparatory to it.
The priest begins this prayer with his hands
joined before his breast, and separates them only to
make three signs of the cross, first, over the entire
oblation, and afterwards a separate sign on each of
the substances of the bread and wine. These signs
of the cross show that the sacrifice of the Mass
derives all its efficacy from the sacrifice of the
Cross. They have for their particular object to
draw down on the bread and wine the virtue and
efficacy of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The nearer
the moment approaches, when the Victim is to be
offered in an unbloody manner, the more reason
has the priest to employ this sign which tends so
strongly to remind us of the oblation heretofore
made in a bloody manner. An explanation of
this prayer will convince us of this important
truth.
246 EXPLANATION OF THE
" Which oblation, we beseech Thee, Lord,
" that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to make in all
" things blessed, approved, ratified, rational, and
" acceptable, that it may become to us the Body
" and Blood of Thy most beloved Son Jesus
" Christ." Is it possible for so great a mystery to
be expressed in fewer words ?
"Do Thou vouchsafe. " Do Thou who art God,
what is best pleasing to Thy divine majesty,
"Who, as the source of all justice, dost desire the
abolition of sin and the re-establishment of justice;
Who, as bounty itself, desirest that the sinner
should be justified and live : we present to Thee,
this bread and wine, because Thy Son has chosen
them, and this choice has rendered them pre
cious gifts, and exalted them to the dignity of
a pure and spotless oblation ; Thou hast chosen
them as a means to shed abroad Thy most abun
dant benedictions ; for the blessings conferred by
them comprehend every kind of benediction, the
germ of all graces, and the principle of all bene
dictions ; they being capable of fulfilling all our
desires, relieving all our necessities, and of
enabling us to satisfy all our obligations.
May it be made for us the Body and Blood of
t( Thy most Beloved Son Jesus Christ /" in the
presence of the angels who adore, of the saints
who glorify, of the Church which invokes, of the
ministers who offer, and of the faithful who expect
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 247
it with a holy ardour ; may God, who conde
scends to operate this prodigy in our behalf, find
nothing henceforward in our hearts repugnant to
the character of well-beloved children, associated
with Jesus Christ.
We are now about to fix the eyes of our faith
on the words of consecration. What preparation
of mind and heart is on our part requisite to
meditate worthily on subjects of such importance !
Eeligion, however enlightened in her dogmas, and
sublime in her mysteries, has nothing so august
and so holy as this to offer us, since the words
which we are about to contemplate contain the
principle of true happiness in time, and the germ
of unfading bliss in eternity.
THE CONSECRATION.
-Tins is My Body; This is My Blood."-St. Matt,
xxvi. 20, 28.
We come now to the action of the sacrifice
or consecration. This is, properly, the only action
in all religion. There is not a prayer or benedic
tion in all religion, but what derives from it all
its merit and value. It is also called the Consecra
tion on account of the change which Jesus Christ
makes of these elements into His Body and Blood,
by which they become a pure, holy, perfect,
reasonable, and acceptable Victim, which, from its
2-18 EXPLANATION OF THE
very nature, cannot fail to appease the justice,
honour the wisdom, second the mercy, and cor
respond with the dignity of the Godhead. In
order to give us to understand that we can never
approach this solemn action with too great a
degree of preparation, nor with too high an idea
of its importance, the Church has placed the con
secration in the centre of all her praj ers. As
every part of the Liturgy preceding the Consecra
tion has served to announce its excellence, and
inspire us with the holiest dispositions, so every
prayer that follows it, tends to apply the fruit
thereof, and to warm our hearts with gratitude.
Moreover, as the Consecration itself is placed in
the centre of the prayers of the Liturgy, so in like
manner arc the words of consecration placed in
the midst of an abridged recital of the circum
stances that accompanied the institution of this
great mystery. " Who, the day before He suf-
" fered, took bread into His holy and venerable
"hands, and, with His eyes lifted up towards
" heaven, giving thanks to Thee, Almighty God,
" His Father, He blessed, broke, and gave it to
" His disciples, saying," c.
"Represent to yourselves," says St. Chrysos-
lom, (Do Sacerdotio,) "the Prophet Elias praying
"prostrate on the ground, before the victim
" placed upon the altar, and surrounded by a vast
" multitude of people awaiting in solemn expecta-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 249
" tion and silence for tlic fire of heaven to descend
" and consume the Victim. This is awful. But
" what is it compared to what takes place on our
" altars at the moment of consecration ! It is no
" longer the fire of heaven, but the God of heaven
" whom the priest, like the prophet, is about to call
" down." At the moment of the consecration, the
veil, which formerly separated the sanctuary from
the body of the church, was withdrawn, that the
whole congregation might intimately unite them
selves to this adorable mystery. In the churches
where the veil is not used, the sound of a bell
announces to all present, that the greatest of mys
teries is about to be accomplished. "At the voice
" of the priest," says St. Gregory the Great, " the
" heavens are opened; the angels become present;
" earthly things are joined to heavenly things,
" and visible and invisible things become one !"
Calling to mind the great mysteries of faith,
arming himself with that sublime power with
which he was invested at his ordination, in the
name and person of Christ, whose words the
priest uses, or rather whose organ he becomes,
he lifts up his eyes towards heaven, and, giving
thanks to his Eternal Father, blesses the bread
and says, " Take ye and eat, for This is My
In like manner, taking the chalice into his
hands, he blesses it, and says : " Drink ye all of
250 EXPLANATION OF THE
" this. This is the chalice of My Blood of the new
" testament, which shall be shed for you, and for
"many unto the remission of sins." (St. Matth.
xxvi. 26-7; St. Luke xxii. 20.) "This is the
"accomplishment of the promise made at Caphar-
"naum: this is the bread which came down from
heaven ; of which, whosoever eateth, shall live
" for ever. This bread is My Flesh, which I shall
" give for the life of the world. This is the Blood
l( of the New Testament or Covenant." This is
the blood of a God, shed in honour of a God,
which fully and perfectly atones for all the out
rages offered to God. It is the blood of the most
holy and most excellent of the children of men ;
which reconciles an offended Father to His re
bellious children ; which atones for the accumu
lated outrages of ages, effaces sins of the deepest
dye, and ensures to all pardon, grace, and salva
tion.
1 This is MIJ Blood." It is no longer Moses
that speaks ; it is no longer question of a tempo
rary covenant, and of a law of death. This cove
nant, like the former, is cemented with blood, but
not with the blood of a mortal victim destitute of
sense ^ and reason, but with the Blood of a God.
"It is M;i lttoo,l," said He who had previously
i<l, "I come that ye may have life, and may
" hare it more abundantly."
" It is the cup of the new and eternal testa-
LITUKGY OF THE MASS. 251
" ment" This is the Blood of the true Paschal
Lamb, which, as it tinges yonr lips, will be a
signal to the destroying angel to take to flight.
This is the Blood which, carried by the supreme
High Priest into the sanctuary of heaven, pleads
more loudly in our behalf, in accents of mercy and
forgiveness, than did that of Abel.
The great miracle is accomplished ! The Son
O f God the Eternal the Strong the Almighty
the Creator of worlds, is become obedient to
the voice of a mortal man ! By the omnipotent
power of God, the bread and wine are instantly
changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
" Look," says St. Chrysostom, " into the interior
" of the sanctuary, as into the interior of heaven
"itself! Behold with the eyes of faith, Jesus
"Christ, there surrounded by an innumerable
" multitude of angels, prostrate before Him."
"What," says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, "when
" Christ says it is so, will any one be bold enough
" to say it is not so? Shall we even presume to
" doubt when He so solemnly declares that this is
" His Body and Blood ?"
Immediately after those words : " This is My
tt ftofty This is My Blood Do this in rcmcm-
" "brance of Me" the priest falls down to adore,
and raises up the Host and Chalice, that the
faithful may likewise adore them.
" The wise men," says St. Chrysostom, " came
2 5 3 EXPLANATION OF THE
" a long journey to adore this Body, with fear and
"trembling. Let us, who are citizens of heaven,
" imitate those barbarians. For, beholding the
" stable and the manger only, without having
"witnessed the great things which we have wit-
" ncsscd, and without knowing the great myste-
" ries and truths that we know, they came and
" adored with great reverence. You behold that
" same Body, not in a manger, but on the altar ;
" not carried in His mother s arms, but elevated
" in the priest s hands, and under the wings of
" the Holy Ghost, whose gifts are most abun-
" daiitly showered down on the Sacrifice. Let us,
" therefore, be roused and tremble ; let us bring
" more devotion to the altar, than the Eastern
" Kings did to the manger, where, with a lively
" faith, and with the most profound sentiments
" of religion, they adored their new-born Saviour."
The object of the elevation of the Host and
Chalice is, to represent the raising up of the Body
of Christ on the Cross ; that the faithful may have
an opportunity of adoring Jesus Christ under the
sacred elements ; and of honouring and imitating
the profound humiliation of the Son of God, who
at this moment prostrates Himself before tho
majesty of His Eternal Father. Jesus Christ then
calls out to us from the altar : " Je suis un Dieu
tres present. Je suis aussi present que lorsqu
" aux jours do ma vie mortelle, j accomplissois
LITURGY OF THE MASS/ 253
" los mysteres dont ce sacrifice est Fabrege: vous
" ctes clevant 1 autcl on jc m immole, clevant le
" tron e de ma misericorcle, clevant ce que le ciel
"a de plus saint et de plus grand."
All hail, most blessed Jesus, Son of the Most
High God ! I adore Thee. Thou art Christ, the
Son of the Living God. Thou art the Lamb of
God that died on the Cross to save us.
Hail, precious Body, that was nailed to the
Cross for our sins ! Hail, Sacred Blood, that
flowed from the wounds of Jesus to cleanse us
from all our sins !
Eternal Father, look down upon this Sacred Vic
tim which was once offered to Thee on the Cross,
and is now daily offered to Thee ! look not upon
our sins, but on the infinite ransom paid for them !
Look upon the face of Thy Christ, here present
upon the altar, and, through the merits of this
adorable Victim, look down upon us in mercy!
Accept, God, of this Divine oblation, and,
through the merits of Christ s Passion and Death,
be pleased to look upon us, and upon all Thy
people, in mercy ! Amen.
251 EXPLANATION OF THE
FIRST PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION.
" Do this in remembrance of Me." Luke xxii. 19.
These words are the title of the power of the
priest, and the proof of the mystery which has
been just accomplished.
In obedience to this command, "Do this in
"remembrance of Me," the priest offers up the
following prayer : " Whence, loth 2ue Thy ser-
" vants, also Thy holy people, mindful, Lord,
"as well of Thy blessed Passion, as ( f Thy
"glorious resurrection from the dead, and of Thy
" admirable ascension into heaven, do offer to Thy
<< most Holy Majesty, of these Thy gifts and grants,
" a pure Host, a holy Host, an immaculate Host,
" the holy Bread of Life Eternal, and the chalice
" of perpetual salvation."
In every sacrifice there must be an offering,
it being an essential part of sacrifice. At the
Offertory, the simple elements of bread and wine
were presented to the Almighty, as a preparatory
offering, to receive His blessing. That blessing
having been received, and the consecration effected,
we have it now in our power to make to God an
offering worthy of Him, the essential offering of
the^ Sacrifice, which we present to His Divine
Majesty. In conformity with our Saviour s com-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 255
mand, we offer it in remembrance of His Passion,
Resurrection, and Ascension. " Do this in re-
" mcmbrance of Me."
A. particular object of the Sacrifice of the Mass
being to remind us of the Passion of Christ ;
the Church reminds us also of the mysteries of
Christ s Resurrection and Ascension, because they
are necessarily connected with Christ s Passion.
Thus we communicate with Christ dead, who
by His death has destroyed the empire of death
over us, by rendering temporal our death, which
would otherwise have been eternal, and by making
it the passage to an endless life. We communi
cate with Christ risen from the dead, whose
Resurrection is the principle and model of our
resurrection. We communicate with Christ as
cended \ip to heaven, which makes us desire to
ascend with Him.
The priest then makes the sign of the cross five
times over the Body and Blood of Christ. There
is every difference between the signs of the cross
made after the consecration and those made before
it. The object of those made before the conse
cration is to draw down the graces of God on the
offerings, and to impress on our minds that it is
only through the merits of Christ that we expect
them. The signs of the cross made after the
consecration show that the sacred elements are the
real Body and Blood of Christ, and that the
256 EXPLANATION OF THE
Sacrifice of the Mass is the same as that of the
Cross. Accordingly, after the consecration there is
no farther invocation of the blessing of God.
By those five signs of the cross, the Church
wishes more and more to inculcate, and make us
sensible that the Victim of the Sacrifice of the
Mass is the same as the Victim of Calvary. By
those five signs of the cross the priest equiva-
lently says : We offer to Thy supreme majesty
this holy Host, which was offered on the cross ;
this pure Host, which was attached to the cross ;
this spotless Host, which was immolated on the
cross ; this Sacred Bread, which is Jesus Christ,
the living and eternal Bread descended from
heaven, who died on the cross to impart life to us;
the Chalice of Salvation, the Blood of Christ, the
mediator of the new alliance, that Blood which
was shed on the cross for the redemption of our
souls. At those precious and awful moments,
the Church wishes that we should be more and
more convinced of the actual presence of Christ
on our altars, and think of nothing else. Could
she better manifest her faith in the miraculous
change which has just taken place ? Could she
more forcibly tell us to behave at the foot of the
altar, as if wo were present at the foot of the
cross itself ?
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 257
SECOND PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION.
"Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of
" Molehisedeeli." (Heb. v. 6.)
While reminding the Eternal Father that the
Sacrifice of Christ is the universal sacrifice, of
which the ancient sacrifices were but so many em
blems, the Church entreats Him to impart to us
the like dispositions, with which the ancient
sacrificers were animated, in offering figurative
victims, as, the innocence of Abel, the faith of
Abraham, and the holiness of Melchisedech.
" Look down" he says, " ivith a propitious and
" serene countenance, upon these offerings, and
" accept them, as Thou didst accept those of Thy
<( righteous servant Aid, the sacrifice of our
11 father Abraham, and that which Thy high priest
" Melchisedech offered Thee."
God always beholds the Victim with compla
cency, but our offering of it may not be so accept
able to Him ; to remove this obstacle is the
object of this prayer. If we have not the inno
cence and generosity of Abel, the faith and
courage of Abraham, nor the holiness of Melchise
dech, let us ask these dispositions of God, par
ticularly during this prayer.
17
258 EXPLANATION OF THE
THIRD PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION. SUPPLICES
TE ROGAMUS.
" The prayers of the saints ascended from the hand of
" the angel before God." Apoc. viii. 4.
This short prayer is one of the most important
of the Mass. It is full of elevated ideas and
sublime mysteries. The priest now joins his
hands before his breast, bows down, and in this
humble posture offers up this prayer. " We most
" humbly beseech Thee, Almighty God, to com-
" mand these things to be carried by the hands
" of Thy holy angel, to Thy altar on high, into
"the presence of Thy Divine Majesty, that as
" many as partake of this altar, by receiving the
" most sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son, may
" bo filled with all heavenly blessings and graces."
In the first of the three preceding prayers, we
offer up to God this Sacrifice; in the second, we
entreat Him to accept of it ; and in the third, we
entreat Him, as the fruits of this oblation, to
shower clown upon us His choicest graces and
blessings.
Who is this holy angel ? It is no other than
Jesus Christ Himself, who undertakes to present
the oblation. The priest entreats Him to carry
the Victim before the throne of His Eternal
Father in heaven. Through respect for Jesus
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 259
Christ, he does not presume to name Him to His
Eternal Father. This Angel Mediator being
equal to the Eternal Father, is certain of procur
ing the acceptance of this Sacrifice, which is both
His and ours.
We have beheld the Angel of the Lord ascending
to the high altar in heaven to present the Host
of propitiation. We now behold Him descend
ing towards earth, to shower down upon us those
graces and benedictions which are the fruits of
this Sacrifice, and as if thus addressing the faith
ful surrounding the altar : " However varied your
" spiritual wants may be, approach with confi-
" dence ; this Sacrifice is more than sufficient to
" supply them all. If you are sinners, solicit
" your conversion ; if you are just, pray for your
" perseverance in justice ; if tempted, pray for
" strength : this Sacrifice is the pledge of all
" graces." The signs of the cross here made
denote the presence of the holy and divine Victim
on the altar of the Church.
Hence we pray in our manuals : " While we
" offer this Host here below upon our altars, do
" Thou receive it upon Thine altar above, from
" the hands of the Angel of great counsel, the
"Eternal Priest; and thence send down Thy
" blessings upon us all, who here below assist at
" Thy divine mysteries : through the same Jesus
" Christ our Lord. Amen."
2 GO EXPLANATION OF THE
The Church, like a tender mother, is ever
anxious that all her children should partake of
the treasure of Christ s merits, to which she has
free access during the august sacrifice.
Before the consecration she applied the merits
of the sacrifice to the whole universal Church, and
for those for whom she was particularly bound
to apply them. She also invoked the intercession
of the saints reigning in heaven in their behalf.
After the consecration she first prays for all her
children who are no longer in this life; and, lastly,
for all present at the holy Sacrifice, for whom, and
for himself, the priest solicits their admission into
the kingdom of heaven.
FOURTH PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION
MEMENTO FOR THE DEAD.
"Have pity on me, you, at least, my friends, for the
"hand of the Lord hath touched me."-Job xix. 21.
It would be superfluous here to remind good
and well-instructed Catholics that the Church,
from the time of the apostles, has ever prayed
for her departed children, and inculcated the
necessity and importance of this duty.
There are some who live so well as not to
require this Sacrifice of the Mediator ; and there
are others that have led such bad lives, that this
Sacrifice would profit them nothing. It is only,
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 261
therefore, for the middle sort, between those two,
that prayer is profitable. For these, it has the
effect that God treats them with more mercy than
their sins would otherwise deserve. In conformity
with this doctrine the Canon of the Mass contains
the following prayer for the departed friends and
members of the Church.
"Be mindful Lord, of Thy servants and
" handmaids, who have none before us in the sign
" of faith, and sleep in the sleep of peace
" To them, Lord, and to all who rest in Christ,
" we leseech that Thou would st grant a place of
" refreshment, light, and peace, through the same
" Christ our Lord. Amen."
First, we beg of God to remember in His
mercy all who are gone before us. Whither are
they gone ? Not into everlasting darkness ; they
are not lost : nor yet into their eternal rest ; they
are not innocent : they are reserved in God s
holy keeping, who chastises them in due measure,
according to their defects.
They are gone lefore us. Then we shall follow
them: we are separated only for a time; and then,
we shall want that help which they now implore
from us.
Who are gone lefore us in the sign of faith.
That is, who, having been baptized, have died in
the true faith, and in the peace of God, that is,
in a state of grace. We, therefore, exclude from
2C2 EXPLANATION OF THE
our prayers all who evidently die in a state of
mortal sin; such, for instance, who having an
opportunity, refuse to receive the rites of the
Church, and die out of her communion. We
think it useless to pray for such. As for those
who die out of the faith of the Catholic Church,
there is no law to exclude our charity towards
them. We may pray for them privately, espe
cially if they have led good lives, and if there be
ground to hope that their error was not wilful.
Still, the Church forhids their names to be pub
licly mentioned during divine service after their
death, to show her detestation of the guilt of heresy
and disobedience.
Who sleep in 1he sleep of peace. These souls
are not sunk in the depth of death eternal. Com
pared with it, theirs is justly styled the sleep of
peace.
The priest then, joining his hands before his
breast, prays a few moments for them, and men
tions the names of persons for whom he particu
larly wishes to pray; he again extends his
hands, and concludes this prayer in these words :
1 To ihcsc, O Lord, and to all that rest in
"Christ, grant, u<e beseech Thee, a place of
"refreshment, lu,ht, and peace."
To these, Lord, and to all that rest in Christ.
These words show that the Church prays for
the souls detained in Purgatory; that they
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 263
have a share in the merits of the Sacrifice ; and
that none are excepted or forgotten, although not
named. Grant a place of refreshment ; for they
are yet in pain and suffering ; a place of light,
and rescue them from the darkness in which they
are involved ; and a place of peace, where they
shall have no more trouble, no more pain or
sorrow ; but be perfectly and eternally happy in
the enjoyment of God.
The honour of God, charity, justice, and our
own interest, oblige us to pray for the dead.
FIFTH PRAYER AFTER THE ELEVATION, AND THE
LAST OF THE CANON. NOBIS QUOQUE PECCATO-
EIBUS.
" If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
" and the truth is not in us." 1 S. John i. 8.
Having finished our prayer for the dead, who
though sinners are yet eternally fixed in the
grace of God, which they can never lose, we
again turn our thoughts upon ourselves, who are
sinners of a very different description, not know
ing if we possess the favour of God ; and if
we do, uncertain whether we shall persevere to
the end in this favour. The priest here elevates
his voice a little, that he may be better heard in
this humble acknowledgment ; and, striking his
264 EXPLANATION OF THE
breast in imitation of the publican, lie says :
" To us sinners also, Thy servants, trusting to
" the multitude of Thy mercies, vouchsafe to
" grant some part and fellowship with Thy holy
" apostles and martyrs, &c., and, with, all Thy
" saints, into whose company we beseech Thee to
" admit us, not in consideration of our merits, but
" through Thy gratuitous pardon. Through Jesus
" Christ our Lord. Amen."
To us sinners. These words admonish us
that the fruit of this Sacrifice is dependent upon
the sincere avowal of our iniquities. To solicit
pardon while we treat ourselves with severity, is
to honour God s sanctity, to interest His mercy,
and to forward the designs of His justice. Let us
then with the priest raise the voice of our hearts
to confess that we are sinners. The priest strikes
his breast, because he considers this avowal, made
in the name of the people, equally applicable to
himself. \\ T Q hesitate not to pronounce ourselves
servants of God, when we reflect on the noble
destiny to which He has called us. By nature we
are sinners ; by grace we are called to be, not only
the servants, but even the children of Go<l, heirs
of heaven, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ and
His saints. These considerations elevate our
spirits, and make us aspire to the realms above.
Thither we immediately raise our minds, and
Bend forth the most ardent wishes that the
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 265
Almighty would grant us some part and fellowship
with His apostles and martyrs, who are already
reigning there, and that He would one day admit
us into that blessed company.
The Church, before the Consecration, invoked
the saints, in order to give additional weight to
her prayers. She now renews her invocation of
them. By the former, the Church instructs us to
offer the sacrifice in union with the saints ; by
the latter, she invites us to render ourselves
worthy of sharing in their glory. In the one, the
Church names the apostles, and those who, after
their example, have contributed to establish and
support religion by their labours, and who defended
it by their sufferings ; in the other, she mentions
those who, in the various stations of life, have
honoured them by their characteristic virtues.
The object of the Church, in the selection of these
saints, is, to convince us that salvation can be
secured in all conditions of life, providing that the
duties of them are fulfilled in a Christian manner.
We "beseech Thee to admit its into the fellowship
of the saints, not in consideration of our merits,
Lnt of Thy own gratuitous pardon. We ask of
God to admit us among the number of His saints,
not in consideration of our merits, but by grant
ing us grace and showing us mercy; for if God
should without mercy scrutinize our conduct, who
could withstand His rigorous judgment ? When
265 EXPLANATION OF THE
Ho grants life eternal, He grants it, not as a
debt, but as a grace and a mercy. (Rom. vi. 23.)
We began this prayer by acknowledging that
we were sinners. It is not upon our merits that
we ground our hopes of mercy. We throw our
selves upon the multitude of God s tender mer
cies ; we entreat Him to manifest them in all
their extent, by granting blessings to which we
have no right to pretend.
Since each of us has a particular patron in
heaven, we beseech Him to listen to the prayers
of His saints. That He would vouchsafe to ac
cept this Sacrifice which they offer in union with
us, and receive the blood of so many martyrs,
united to the blood of His Son, as a host of pro
pitiation. It is through Jesus Christ that we
demand this favour. It is through Jesus Christ
that we expect its fulfilment. It is through Jesus
Christ that we hope to praise God throughout ages
without end. Amen.
CONCLUSION OF THE CANON.
" All things were made by Him (Christ), and without
Him was made nothing." St. John i. 3.
It was in the name of Christ, that the priest
just now solicited the admission into heaven of the
living and of the dead. He now assigns the reason
why he offered up all those petitions in the name
of Jesus Christ, "it is because God grants all
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 2G7
" favours and graces through Him, and that it is
"through Him that God does always create,
" sanctify, quicken, hless, and give us all these
" good things." It is hy Jesus Christ (by whom
all things were made, St. Jolmi.) that God created
the bread and wine which arc to become the
matter of the Sacrifice. That He sanctifies them,
choosing them to be the matter of the Sacrifice ;
ririfics them by substituting in their place Jesus
Christ Himself, the living Bread descended from
heaven; blesses them, because the Body and Blood
of Christ produced by the change of the substance
of bread and wine, are a sacrifice of adoration and
praise offered to God, and a source of blessings to
His church. And lie (jives them by the holy
communion, in which we receive the true Body
and Blood of Christ.
The signs of the cross, which are made during
the pronouncing of those words, denote that the
action, by which the bread and wine are sanctified
and vivified, and become, by the change of sub
stance, a source of graces and blessings, is a repre
sentation and continuation of the Sacrifice of the
Cross.
In the above, you beheld a summary of what
Christ has done in our behalf ; let us now attend
to the explanation of what the Church does
in and through Him for the glory of His eternal
Father.
2G8 EXPLANATION OF THE
"It is by Him, and with Him, and in Him,
" that ail honour and glory are given to Thee,
" God the Father Almighty, in the unity of
" the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever."
These words mean that the Sacrifice of Jesus
Christ can alone render to God the honour that
is due to Him ; and that we cannot honour God
worthily but by Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ,
and in Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ, because He
is the only Mediator, by whom we can please God.
With Jesus Christ, because, in order to please
God, and to render to Him the honour due to Him,
we must be united to Christ in spirit, be animated
with His dispositions, and depend on Him in all we
do. In Jesus Christ, because we cannot please God
unless we are as it were engrafted on Christ, as a
branch is on the tree that bears it. The signs of
the cross accompany these words, by Him, tCc.,
and signify that God can be honoured only by
the Sacrifice of the Cross. The signs of the
cross made on the altar, and accompanying these
words, "To Thee, Almighty God, the Father,
" in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour ami
"glory belong," mean, that it is by the cross, of
which the altar is a iigure or emblem, that the
Holy Trinity which is here named, receives all
honour and glory.
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 2G9
ON THE DEVOTION WITH WHICH WE SHOULD ASSIST
AT THE HOLY SACRIFICE.
"Reverence My sanctuary ; I am the Lord." Leviti
cus xix. 30.
" He beheld the Invisible as if He were visible."
Heb. xi. 27.
Our principal devotion, from the moment of the
Consecration till after the Communion, should be,
a lively faith, a most profound reverence, and a
heart inflamed for that Lamb of God who there
offers Himself in sacrifice for us.
If, when God appeared to Moses in the burning
bush in the desert, the place became holy in
consequence of the Divine Presence, insomuch
that God commanded him to take off his shoes,
how much more holy does the place of our altars
become, where Christ is present, as both our
Priest and Victim.
When, at the dedication of the temple of Solo
mon, the priests had, with the greatest solemnity,
placed the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of
Holies, a cloud filled the House of the Lord, so that
they could no longer stand there to minister, the
Glory of the Lord having filled the whole House.
Yet this was but the shadow of the Divine Pres
ence, whereas, on our altars, we have the reality
thereof, veiled indeed from the eyes of our bodies,
270 EXPLANATION OF THE
but visible to the eyes of our faith. " If, then, the
" ministration of condemnation were glorious,
" how much more does the ministration of glory
11 abound in glory, by reason of the glory that ex-
" celleth." (2 Cor. iii. 9.)
" While the sacrifice is being offered up," says
St. Chrysostom, on the Priesthood, " the angels
" stand by the priest ; and the sanctuary is filled
" with those heavenly spirits, robed in white, and
" standing, with the utmost respect and reverence
" towards the adorable Victim lying on the altar.
" When you behold the priest at the altar making
" the offering, do not think of the man, but con-
" sider the hand of the Lord, which is invisibly
"extended! When, again, you behold the
" Lord of Glory, lying slain on the altar, the
" priest praying over Him, and the multitude
" surrounding the altar sprinkled with His Blood,
" do you still consider yourselves on earth ? do you
" not rather imagine yourselves delivered from the
" shackles of the body, raised up to the heavens,
" and, with the eyes of the naked soul, contem-
" plating the things that are above?" (S. Chry
sostom, idem.)
With what profound respect did the people of
God, in ancient times, reverence the sanctuary in
which the Ark of the Covenant was placed ! How
much more profoundly ought we to reverence the
true sanctuary of God, and the Lord Himself of
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 271
the covenant, who is present in our tremendous
mysteries !
Our Saviour, in the Mass, officiates in person,
and acts, as in a sacred tragedy, His whole Pas
sion and death : we ought, then, to accompany
Him therein with suitahle affection and devotion.
Had we, with true helief in Him, been present at
the Sacrifice of the Cross, the Sacrifice of our
Redemption, with what sentiments of love and
gratitude, with what sorrow and repentance for
our sins, with what fervour and devotion should
we have waited upon Him, there reflecting on the
heinous enormity of our sins, which could not he
expiated but by His sacred Blood ! With the like
sentiments ought we to assist at this solemn
memorial and representation of His Passion and
Death.
" Faisons done paroitre par la retenue de nos
" sens, par la posture de notre corps, et par tout
" notre exterieur, une humilite profonde, une
" crainte religieuse et une vive foi de la presence
" de Jesus Christ, sur nos autels! Disons la sainte
" Messe avec un air de recueillment qui fasse
" connoitre a ceux qui 1 entendent combien nous
<l sommes convaincus et combien ils le doivent
" etre, que Jesus Christ y est reellement present
" accompagne d une multitude d anges qui 1 aclo-
"rent." (Tronson.)
272 EXPLANATION OF THE
THE REAL PRESENCE OP JESUS CHRIST IN THE
EUCIIARISTIC SACRIFICE AND SACRAMENT, PROVED
FROM THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF
THE PRIMITIVE AGES OF CHRISTIANITY.
"This," said Christ, "is My Body. This is My
" Blood." St. Matthew xxvi. 20. ^8.
In order to lay the foundations of His Church,
the Son o,f God chose His apostles from the
lowest grade of society, lest that their future suc
cess in establishing it might be attributed to their
great mental abilities and eloquence, or to the
influence of birth, education, and of riches, in
stead of to the efficacy of the Spirit of God, and to
the merits of Christ s Passion and Death. But
when the victory of Christianity over Paganism
was won, the Spirit of God raised up a galaxy or
phalanx of illustrious personages, endowed with
all the gifts of nature and of grace, and animated
with the Spirit of God, in order to complete the
edifice of which the apostles had but laid the
foundation, to level every height that might exalt
tself against the knowledge of God, and to bring
into captivity every understanding to the obedi
ence of Christ.
These great personages became, through the
^-ovidence of God, the bishops of all the great
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 273
cities of the then civilised world, which were the
capitals of so many great kingdoms previously
to their being absorbed by the Roman Empire :
as Rome itself, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantino
ple, Jerusalem, Milan, Lyons, Carthage, Hippo,
Csesarea, Nazianzum, and other such cities. They
were like so many beacons placed on the summits
of high mountains, to enlighten by their writings
the whole world until the end of time.
The fourth and fifth centuries of Christianity
Independently of the divine light and influence
by which those great men were guided, " dans
" les deux eglises, en orient et en Occident, les
" Chrysostome, les Basile, les Gregoire de Nazi-
<{ anze, les Ambroise, les Jerome, les Augustin,
" surpassoient en erudition, et en eloquence tout
"ce qui rcstoit encore de Sophistes paiens, et
" mume tout ce qui les avoit precedes, depuis lea
temps de Tacito et de Plutarque; c etoit done
" sous lo rapport du genie, une grande et nouvelle
" epoque, une ere glorieuse, qui se formoit pceur
" 1 espece humaine." Villemain.
18
EXPLANATION OF THE
THE REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE
EUCIIARISTIC SACRIFICE AND .SACRAMENT, PROVED
FROM THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF
THE PRIMITIVE AGES OF CHRISTIANITY.
"This," said Christ, "is My Body. This is My
" Blood." St. Matthew xxvi. 20. <>8.
In order to lay the foundations of His Church,
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 273
cities of the then civilised world, which were the
capitals of so many great kingdoms previously
to their being absorbed by the Roman Empire :
as Rome itself, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantino
ple, Jerusalem, Milan, Lyons, Carthage, Hippo,
Csesarea, Nazianzum, and other such cities. They
were like so many beacons placed on the summits
of high mountains, to enlighten by their writings
the whole world until the end of time.
The fourth and fifth centuries of Christianity
resemble the prophetic era inasmuch as God then
raised up extraordinary personages endowed with
supernatural gifts to accomplish His views and
designs of mercy on mankind. The holy fathers
are to the new law, what the prophets were to
the old law. They arc, by prescription, the
Fathers of Christianity. These illustrious per
sonages are unanimous witnesses, that the faith
of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic
Sacrifice and Sacrament was everywhere believed
by all, and at all times ; in other words, that it is
universal as to time and place.
This alone proves the Divine and apostolical
origin of that doctrine. For, since during the fourth
and fifth centuries of Christianity it was univer
sal ; and as no trace of its origin posterior to
the teaching of the apostles can be assigned, it is
necessarily Divine.
Moreover, Protestants admit that no error, at
18
274 EXPLANATION OF THE
least of any moment, had crept into the Church
previously to the fourth and fifth centuries of
Christianity.
Let us now listen to a few of the testimonies
of those great doctors on the existence of the faith
of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and Sacrament in
their respective times.
"Wo read," says St. Ambrose, "that, God
" having spoken, all things were instantly made,
" and, having commanded, all things were created.
" If, then, the word of Christ, by Whom all
" things were made, and without Whom nothing
"of what was made, was made/ imparted exist-
" encc to what had it not, can He not change the
"nature of what already exists, since it is easier
"to change the nature of what exists, than to
" create ?" (Discourse to Neophytes, c. 9.)
St. Chrysostom, (forty-sixth Homily, on St.
John s Gospel,) observes that " As those words,
" increase, multiply, and/?/Z the earth, having been
" but once pronounced by God at the creation, still
" continue to impart to human nature the power
" of perpetuating itself by procreation until the
" end of all time, so, in like manner, although the
" words of Christ, This is Mij Body, This is My
" Blood, were but once pronounced by Him, still
" they continue to impart to this Sacrifice all its
" virtue and efficacy which it has on the altars of
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 275
"the Church, and which it will have unto the end
" of all time."
St. Ambrose, while instructing those whom he
was about to admit to the holy Sacraments, speaks
thus : " You will," said he to them, " say to me,
" How can you assure us that it is the Body and
" Blood of Christ that we are about to receive,
" since we behold quite another thing ? This I
" will prove to you. I can furnish you numerous
" instances that what we receive at the altar is
" not what it was formed by nature, but what it
" is become by consecration ; which consecration
" or benediction is much more powerful than
" nature, since it is able to change the nature
" itself of things. Thus Moses threw on the
" ground the rod which he held in his hand, and
" it became a serpent. He then caught the ser-
" pent by the tail, and it immediately became a
" rod again." Upon which, St. Cyril of Alexandria
says, to those who denied the possibility of the
change of bread and wine into the Blood of
Christ: "If you persist in asking me how this
" miraculous change takes place, I will insist
" upon hearing from you, how the rod of Moses
" was changed into a serpent, and how the waters
" of the river Nile were changed into blood."
" At the command of the same Moses," says
again St. Ambrose, "water flowed from the
" rock in behalf of the Jews : but for you Chris-
276 EXPLANATION OF THE "
t( tians, Blood flows from tlie side of Jesus
" Christ. If the word of Elias was able to bring
" down the fire of heaven, shall not the word
" of Jesus Christ be able to change the nature of
" created things ?"
" While being carried up to heaven," says St.
Chrysostom, " Elias let his mantle fall on his
" disciple Eliseus, and thereby deprived himself
" of it. Whereas Christ, ascending up to heaven,
" left us His Body and Blood, but without depriv-
" ing Himself of them, for He carried them up
" thither with Him.
" The birth which Jesus Christ assumed from
" Mary, did not follow the ordinary course of
" nature. It is certain that the order of nature
t( was not observed therein, did not contribute to
" it. It is manifestly contrary to the order of
" nature that a virgin should become a mother,
" she still remaining a pure virgin. Why, then,
" seek the order of nature in the reproduction of
" the Body of Christ in this sacrament, since it
" was contrarily to the order of nature that this
"same Son was born of a virgin?
"At the wedding of Cana in Galilee, our
" Saviour, by the sole act of His will, changed
" water into wine, and shall He not be believed
" when He declares that He has changed the wine
"into His Blood?" (St. ChrysostomJ
The same holy father continues : " When a
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 277
" person asks how a thing can be done, he gives
" to understand that he does not consider it pos-
" sible. If, then, you ask how the bread and j
"wine arc changed into the Body and Blood of
" Christ, why do you not also ask how the five
" loaves and the few fishes were so multiplied as,
" to feed several thousand persons ?"
St. Chrysostom again says : " If the blood of a
lamb saved the Israelites in Egypt from the
" destroying angel, not because it was blood, but
"because it represented the Blood of the true
" Lamb of God, how much more will the real
" Blood of the true Lamb of God itself put to flight
" the evil spirits, when they behold it, not sprinkled
" on our doors, but shining in our mouths."
" The treachery of Judas inspires us with horror,
" then let us take care not to become guilty of the
" same crime by an unworthy communion."
St. Augustine, and the successor of St. Cyril of
Jerusalem, hold nearly the same language. " Re-
" ceivc," says the former, " under the appearance
" of bread, that same flesh which was nailed to the
" cross on Mount Calvary. Drink out of the
" chalice that same Blood which flowed from the
" side of our Saviour, when pierced with the lance
"on the cross." The latter declares that "the
" contents of the chalice on the altar are the same
" Blood that issued from the side of Christ when
" pierced with the lance." (Sermon 83.)
278 EXPLANATION OF THE
Lastly, " let us not consider the Eucharist to
" be what it appears to our sight, but what
"the words of Christ declare it to be." (St.
Augustine.) See Discussion Amicale, vol. ii. p. 8.
The belief then in the real presence of Christ in
the Eucharistic sacrifice and sacrament, is an im
portant item of the faith once delivered to the
saints, which the Church has ever guarded as the
apple of her eye.
We do not pretend Christ to be present in the
Eucharist in the same mode of existence as while
He was upon earth; such is not the Catholic
belief. We believe Him to be present in the
Eucharist, in a real, but still in a spiritual mode
of existence, such as His Body was after His
resurrection. According to St. Paul, there are
two different modes of being proper to the human
body : " This corruptible body must put on in-
" corruption, and this mortal body must put on
"immortality." (1 Cor. xv. 53.) "There is,"
says he, " a natural body, and a spiritual body."
(Id. 44.) Bearing this in mind, all difficulties
vanish at once. The eye, the taste, the touch,
may tell us that it is mere bread and wine ; but
they represent only appearances. In order to
learn what the substance really is, we must listen
to the word of God, which says : " This is My
"Boily. This is My Blood." Mary Magdalen
saw a young man at the sepulchre. (St. Mark xvi.)
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 279
St. Matthew tells us that it was not a young man,
but an angel. (St. Matt, xxviii.) The same may be
said of our other senses. " Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
(Rom. x. 17.)
FOURTH ARTICLE.
THE COMMUNION ; OR FOURTH AND LAST PART OF
THE LITURGY.
" The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not
"the communion of the Blood of Christ? And the
" bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the
"Body of the Lord?" I Cor. x. 1.6.
By means of the various prayers and ceremo
nies that accompany the different parts of the
august Sacrifice of our altars, the Church has
successively conducted us from the penitential to
the instructive part ; from the instructive part to
the oblation ; from the oblation to the consecra
tion ; and from the consecration to the commu
nion, which is the third and last essential part of
the Sacrifice.
We are not to confound communion, inasmuch
as it is one of the essential parts of the Sacrifice
of the Mass, with communion, as it is the fourth
part of the liturgy. All the prayers of that part
of the liturgy called the communion, which precede
the consumption of the Sacred Elements, are an
immediate preparation to it ; and all the prayers
280 EXPLANATION OF THE
that follow, to the end of the service, are a thanks
giving for it.
The Communion, or participation of the matter
of the Sacrifice, is an essential part thereof. We
have already had the oblation and Consecration,
which correspond to the offering up and immola
tion of the Victim. The Communion is the con
summation of the Sacrifice. The effects of the
Sacrifice are, to some extent, suspended till the
Communion is effected. So essential was the
participation of the flesh of the victim considered
under the old law, that in the holocausts, which
were the most perfect kind of sacrifices, and in
which the victim was totally burnt, in acknowledg
ment of God s supreme dominion over all things,
a cake was at the same time offered up and eaten,
that this essential part of sacrifice might not be
wanting. In the Sacrifice of the New Law, which
includes the perfection of former sacrifices, there
is a similar consummation. So convinced is the
Church of the necessity of Communion as an
essential part of the Sacrifice of the Mass, that,
should the minister, while engaged in this awful
function, be surprised by some unforeseen acci
dent, and rendered incapable of consummating the
Sacrifice, she requires another minister to take
his place, to consummate the Sacrifice, even
though no one could be found that had not
broken his fast. The Communion concludes the
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 281
Sacrifice, makes it perfect in all its parts, and
leaves nothing more to be desired.
In accordance with this doctrine of the Church is
that of St. Paul in the above text, (1 Cor. x. 16.)
" The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it
" not the communion of the Blood of Christ ?
" And the bread which we break, is it not the
"participation of the Body of the Lord?" The
apostle does not here separate the blessing of the
cup, and the breaking of the bread, from the com
munion of the Blood, and the participation of the
Body, of Christ. In other words, he considers
the communion essentially and inseparably con
nected with the consecration, and as part and par
cel of the Sacrifice.
PREPARATION FOR THE SACRIFICIAL COMMUNION.
The prayers for this purpose are, the Lord s
Prayer, the two short prayers Pax Domini and
JItfc commixtio, dec., the Agnus Dei, the three fol
lowing prayers, and the Dom me non sum dignus.
282 EXPLANATION OF THE
THE LORD S PRAYER.
"Teach us to pray." St. Luke xi. 1.
Prayer is the most infallible means to obtain all
good from God, when it flows from an humble
heart, wholly relying on His mercy, and on the
merits of Christ, and offered up in His name, and
in union with Him.
The Lord s Prayer is the most excellent of all
prayers. It was composed, not by a saint, nor by
a prophet, nor even by an angel, or archangel,
but by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Son
and Eternal Wisdom of God. And where or
when can it be so intimately united with Christ, or
so effectually offered up in His name, as when
joined with the adorable Sacrifice of His Blessed
Body and Blood, and offered up in union with
those divine mysteries ? It contains every per
fect form of adoration ; it is a summary of all the
truths of salvation, of all the demands that a
Christian can make for the glory of God, for his
own salvation, for that of his neighbour, and for
every succour, both spiritual and temporal, of
which he may stand in need. It likewise con-
tains an abridgment of the dispositions which
should accompany us to the foot of the altar.
We may add that whoever has repeated it with a
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 283
lively faitli and undeviating attention, cannot pos
sibly have anything further to demand of God.
The faithful conclude this prayer with the words,
Deliver us from evil. Deliver us from evil, that
Thou, God, mayest he glorified in us ; that
Thou mayest reign over us ; that we may do Thy
will ; that we may obtain of Thy bounty all spiri
tual and temporal advantages ; that we may
deserve the pardon of our sins on account of our
sincere love of our brethren ; and that our weak
ness may not be exposed to temptations.
The priest answers Amen, so be it, may you be
delivered from all evil.
He then explains this desire of the faithful of
being delivered from evil, by mentioning the evils
from which they desire deliverance, and the
names of those through whose mediation they
expect it. " Deliver us," says he, " from all
" evils, past, present, and to come, and through
" the intercession of the glorious Mary, ever a
" Virgin, of the Blessed Apostles, Peter, Paul,
" and Andrew, and of all the saints, grant us, as
" the effect of Thy mercy, peace in our days, that,
" being supported by the help of Thy mercy, we
" may be delivered from all sin, and exempted
" from every kind of ^trouble, through Christ our
"Lord."
Present and past evils here mean our manifold
sins ; and the evils to come mean the just chas-
284 EXPLANATION OF THE _
tisement of our offences, wliicli would follow, if
our prayers, and those more powerful ones of the
saints, who intercede for us, intercepted not the
justice, or excited not the mercy of God.
Taking hold of the paten at the words of the
above prayer, grant us peace, the priest therewith
makes on himself the sign of the cross, because it
is by means of the cross that all opposition to
our peace is removed.
THE PAX DOMINI AND THE PRAYER ELEC COMMIXTIO,
TOGETHER WITH THE ACCOMPANYING CEREMONY.
" Christ, rising from tlie dead, dietli now no more."
Horn. vi. 9.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most
consoling truth of religion. It proves that our
faith is not vain, nor our hopes insecure or
groundless ; for since, after having undergone the,
punishment of sin, He is risen, He had only the
appearance of guilt ; its stain did not reach His,
soul, He is not less true in His words thaa
admirable in His miracles and works.
Immediately after the Lord s Prayer, the priest
takes in his hands the Sacred Host, raises It above
the chalice, and breaks It into two equal parts, one
of which he places upon the altar : detaching a par
ticle from the other half, and making with it the sign
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 285
of the cross three times over the chalice, he says :
" May the peace of the Lord be ever with you."
He then drops the particle into the chalice, say
ing: "May tliis mixture of the Body and Blood
" of our Lord Jesus Christ become to its, who are
" about to receive it, a pledge of eternal life."
The Sacrifice of the Mass heing a continuation
of the Sacrifice of the Cross, and the ceremonies
of the Mass heing an actual representation of the
circumstances of the Sacrifice of the Cross, the
principal circumstances of the Sacrifice of the
Cross should therefore be pointed out by cor
responding ceremonies in the Mass. Now, there
are two principal circumstances in the Sacrifice of
our Redemption, Christ s Death and Resurrec
tion. The Death and Resurrection of Christ
are the two principal mysteries of the Christian
religion. His Death is the proof of His humanity,
while His Resurrection confirms the truth of His
Divinity, and consequently His dominion over life
and death. His death was the effect of His con
flict with the powers of darkness ; His Resurrec
tion the signal of His victory over them. And as
the Church in the Mass represents Christ s Death
by the words of consecration, saying, " This is
My Body: TJds is My Blood ichich shall l)c shed
for you," so, when the two species are united in
the chalice, their union represents the reunion of
Christ s Soul and Body, which took place at the
286 EXPLANATION OF THE
moment of His Kesurrection. The action of the
priest in letting the particle of the Sacred Host
fall into the chalice, is representative of the
moment when the supreme Deliverer raised Him
self from the tomb, and rendered us for ever
secure of the fruits of His Passion. The Body
and Blood of Christ, which are represented as
separated at the moment of the consecration by
the sacrificial words, are here represented as
reunited by the mixture of the two sacred species,
accompanied by the words, " May tliis mixture
" ami consecration of Christ s Body and Blood lie
" effectual unto eternal life to us who receive it."
The temple of Christ s Body is represented as
destroyed and re-established, by the two-fold
representation of the mysteries of Christ s Death
and Resurrection, upon our altars : the Sacrifice of
the Mass is accordingly offered up, not only in
memory of Christ s Passion and Death, but also of
His Resurrection and Ascension. It is therefore
absolutely necessary that in some part of the
Mass the reunion of Christ s Soul and Body
should bo represented, that it may be announced
that Christ ever Uveth to make intercession for us.
The breaking of the Sacred Host reminds us of
one of the most venerable recollections of religion ;
for, taking the bread, He broke it and gave it to
His disciples, saying : " Take ye, an.l eat of
" this." (St. Matt, xxvi.)
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 28?
The priest makes three signs of the cross with
the particle over the chalice, before letting it fall
into it, saying : " May the peace of the Lord be
" always icith you."
Peace le to you, is the salutation with which
Christ always greeted His Apostles after His
Resurrection, as the fruits of His Death and
Resurrection, He having been " delivered for our
<f sins, and risen for our justification." But w r hat
kind of peace is this that the priest wishes to the
faithful ? It is, first, the peace of God, the sole
inheritance which Christ, from the summit of the
cross, bequeathed to His followers. Secondly,
The peace of conscience, which the world cannot
give, and which is the fruit of our victory over our
passions. The former of these is a necessary
disposition for Holy Communion; the latter is the
effect of a worthy Communion.
In ancient times alliances were contracted by
sealing them with the blood of the victims then
offered up in sacrifice, or by the blood of the con
tracting parties themselves, which each drew from
his own veins. It is not with the blood of
animals, nor even with mere human blood, but
with the Blood of the God-Man, that the peace
and union of all Christians between themselves
and with God, is here sealed. It is a perpetual
and universal peace that the Church asks by this
prayer : " May the peace of the Lord le always
238 .EXPLANATION OF THE
with yon," as tlio fruit of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, which is offered up by the consecration,
and consummated by the communion.
" For it is by this divine Blood that all things
" have been pacified, and heaven and earth recon-
" ciled, Christ making peace through the Blood of
" His Cross, both as to the things that are on
" earth, and to the things that are in heaven.
(Col. i. 29.) And lastly, it is in honour of the
Holy Trinity that the three signs of the cross are
made. The faithful should, at this moment, make
an act of the love of their neighbours in con
formity with the above short prayer, " May the
peace of the Lord be always with you."
THE AGNUS DEI.
" Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins
" of the world." St. John i. 29.
The union of the two species in the chalice
represents the union of the Divine and human
natures, which took place at the Incarnation, the
union of God and man that takes place in the
Holy Communion, and the union which will take
place when all the saints of God are united in
heaven in peace and unity. But how are these
desirable unions obtained unless we have a victim
which can make satisfaction for our sins, and
reconcile us to God ; for, while there exists
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 289
between God and us a wall of separation which
has been raised up by our sins, no union between
God and us is possible. Aware of tins, the
Church addresses herself to Jesus Christ, as the
Lamb and Victim of God, to take away our sins.
The Messiah is frequently designated by the
prophets as a lamb, in reference to His becoming
on the Cross a Victim for the sins of the world.
Thus, in the Apocalypse, He is styled, " the
Lamb " slain from tlic beginning of the world."
(Apoc. xiii. 8.) The Prophet Isaias prayed for His
coming under this title : " Send forth, Lord,
" the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, to the mount
"of the daughter of Sion." (xvi. 1.) The same
prophet foretells His unalterable patience and
mildness during His Passion, by representing
Him as a sheep that is led to the slaughter, and
as a lamb before the shearer, that does not open
His mouth. In accordance with these prophecies,
the Baptist points Him out to the multitude, as
the frequently foretold and long expected Lamb,
that was to take away the sins of the world.
Hence, while Jesus Christ is being offered up
a Victim on our altars, the Church addresses
Him thus: "Lamb of God, iclio takcst away the
" sins of the icorld." She invokes Him in this
manner three times, a practice which she always
observes in the case of those formularies which
appear to her of more than ordinary importance,
19
290 EXPLANATION OF THE
and to show the great need we have of God s
mercy and grace, in order to be reconciled to Him
in this life, and to be united to Him in the next.
The priest pronounces these words in a bending
posture, to denote the sentiments of awe and
veneration which they should excite in every heart.
He strikes his breast three times at the words,
"Have mercy on us," because he regards his
sins as the most proper motive to excite the ten
der compassion of Jesus Christ. At the third
repetition, he changes the object by soliciting
peace because the compassion of Christ is particu
larly directed to the trouble produced within us
by sin.
Yes, the Victim which the Church presents in
the Sacrifice of the Mass is truly the Sacrifice of
God, the Oblation of God, the Lamb of God,
chosen by a God, offered by a God, accepted by
a God, alone worthy of a God, alone capable of
appeasing a God, and of effecting a reconciliation
between God and His offending creatures.
" Who takcst away the sins of the world."
God laid upon His shoulders the iniquities of us
all ; He bears on them the sins of the whole
world ; He is loaded with our sorrows ; He is
covered with our bruises ; and, without contract
ing the pollution of sin, He becomes, in some
men sure, sin itself, that He may blot out our
transgressions. He became sin for us. That is,
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 291
the representative of sin, who was to hear the
whole weight of the Divine indignation; the
pledge for sin, by making an infinite reparation
to the offended majesty of God. The remedy for
sin, the wounds of which were too deep for aught
but the merits of a God to cure ; there was not
a single transgression committed from the begin
ning of the world, for which He did not make
ample satisfaction to His Eternal Father.
Encouraged by those considerations, let us not
yield to dejection or despair ; and whilst the
Church, in the name of all her children, exclaims,
" Have mercy on us," penetrated with grief at
the sight of our infidelities, we too should repeat
with fervour, " Lord, Thou knowest the dust
" out of which we are formed ; Thou knowest the
"weakness of our nature, since Thou hast felt
" the bitter effects of our sins, in the pangs of
" Thy Passion and Death. Hare mercy on us :
" show us compassion ; we are the sheep of Thy
" fold ; save us from the rage of the wolves that
" are continually prowling around the fold to sur-
" prise and devour us. Have mercy on us for the
" glory of Thy name ; ensure to us the fruits of
" Thy Passion; let not Thy blood be shed for us
" in vain. Grant us Thy peace : Divine Lamb,
" who didst come to bring peace upon earth,
" to effect our peace with heaven, grant us Thy
" peace in both time and eternity."
292 EXPLANATION OF THE
Could there be a more appropriate preparatory
prayer for Communion ? The first and most
essential preparation for Communion is the ab
sence at least of mortal sin, and who but Christ
can deliver us from sin, the great obstacle to our
union with God in time and eternity ?
THREE PRAYERS IN IMMEDIATE PREPARATION FOR
THE COMMUNION OF THE PRIEST.
THE FIRST PRAYER.
" Before all tilings have a constant mutual charity ;
" for charity covereth a multitude of sins." 1 St. Peter
iv. 8.
The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of love
and of peace ; Christ is the Prince of Peace ;
heaven the abode of peace. None but those who
have been men of peace in this life, will ever make
fit subjects for enjoying the harmony of heaven.
The apostle exhorts us to endeavour to be at peace
with all men ; without which no one will ever see
God. And Christ enjoins us this, saying: "If
" thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there re-
" member that thy brother has aught against thee,
" leave there thy gift before the altar; go first to
" be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and
" offer thy gift." (St. Matt, v. Discourse on the
Mount.) Moreover, in order to become, by means
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 293
of the Holy Communion, one body and one spirit
with Christ, we must be so united among ourselves
by mutual charity as to form but one heart and one
soul. So essential is this disposition to a worthy
communion, that the Church asks it of God with
increased fervour in the following prayer : "0
" Lord Jesus Christ, who didst say to Thine apos-
" ties, Peace I leave you, My peace I give you,
" regard not my sins, but the faith of Thy
"Church; and vouchsafe, according to Thy will,
" to pacify and unite it."
In Masses for the dead this prayer is omitted,
for the peace which we solicit for the Church
Militant, is not suitable to the condition of the
Church Suffering in purgatory, but is most
necessary for ourselves, who are living in the
midst of trials, temptations and dangers ; and
lest that our sins should render us unworthy of
obtaining it, the priest asks it through the faith
of the Church ; faith alone prays, and the Church,
being the sole abode of faith, is also the solo
house of prayer. The Catholic Church, to the
exclusion of all sects, has alone received the gift
of prayer.
294 EXPLANATION OF THE
THE SECOND PRAYER.
" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ?"
Romans viii. 35.
The second prayer is as follows: " Lord Jesus
" Christ, Son of the Living God, who, by the will
" of the Eternal Father, and with the cooperation of
" the Holy Ghost, hast by Thy Death given life to
" the world, deliver me, by Thy most sacred Body
" and Blood, from all my iniquities, and from all
" evils, and make me always adhere to Thy com-
" mandments, and never permit me to be sepa-
" rated from Thee, who, with the Father and the
"Holy Ghost, livest and reignest, God world
" without end. Amen."
This prayer reminds us that it was the Death
of Christ that gave life to the world ; we partake
of the benefits of Christ s Death by the Holy
Communion, as the Jews of old partook of the
benefits of the legal sacrifices, by partaking of
the flesh of the victims ; they thus communed
with God by means of the sacrifices offered up to
Him. In like manner, the Eucharistic participa
tion of the Body and Blood of Christ was insti
tuted as a means of invisibly and interiorly
Communicating to us the grace and spirit of all
the mysteries of the God-Man
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 295
This prayer contains three most excellent re
quests. 1. To be freed from all iniquities ; because
innocence is the first and most essential disposi
tion for communion. 2. That having obtained
that innocence we may never lose it, but always
remain steadfast in fulfilling all the commands of
God. And 3rd. That when once we shall have
had the happiness of being united to Christ we
may never more be separated from Him. " May
" I, Lord, in this world always live to Thee, be
" guided by Thy Spirit ; and in the next life not
" be doomed to that greatest punishment of Thy
" enemies, which consists in an eternal separation
" from Thee."
THE THIRD PRAYER.
" He that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks
"judgment to himself." 1 Cor. xi. 29.
This prayer is deprecatory of evils and suppli
catory of benefits. The priest, inspired by the
sense of his own unworthiness, prays thus : " Let
" not, Lord Jesus Christ, the participation of
"Thy Body, which I unworthily presume to receive,
"be to me unto judgment and condemnation, but
" according to Thy goodness, let it profit me to
" the safe keeping of soul and body, and to spiri-
" tual healing."
The priest here renews his sentiments of humi-
296 EXPLANATION OF THE
lity and compunction, and entreats our Lord that
His adorable Body may prove a preservative
against mortal sins, and a salutary remedy of venial
sins.
DOMIXE NON SUM DIGXUS.
" Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should st enter
"under my roof: sny hut the word, and my servant
" shall he healed. -St. Matt. viii. 8.
The preceding prayers being ended, the priest
kneels to adore our Lord, whom he is about to
receive. St. Augustine says : " No one doth eat
"the Flesh of Christ till he has first adored
" Him." Then, rising and taking the Sacred
Host in his hands, he says, " I will take the
" heavenly Bread, and I will call upon the name
"of the Lord." Immediately afterwards, holding
the Sacred Host in his left hand, and looking
at it with awe and affection, with the right hand
he three times strikes his breast, repeating
each time: "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou
" sliouldst enter umltr my roof: say but the word,
" and my soul shall le healed." (St. Matt, viii.)
At each repetition, a bell is rung, to excite the
attention of the faithful to this part of the Mass,
which exceeds in importance every other part,
except the consecration. Those words, " Lord, I
" am not worthy" d-c., are, at the same time a
LITUEGY OF THE MASS. 297
most profound acknowledgment of his own un-
worthiness, and an act of his lively faith in the
divinity and goodness of Jesus Christ. They
were first uttered by a Eoman centurion to our
Saviour, who answered him that He would go
down to his house to restore his servant to health.
"No, Lord," replied he, "I am not worthy of
"so great an honour; say but the word where
" Thou art standing, and my servant will be
"instantly healed." With great propriety and
singular beauty has the Church adapted these
words to the present subject. Our Lord is about
to enter into our breasts, and we in astonishment
exclaim: "No, Lord, our breasts are not fit
" abodes for Thee : what is there in us but sin,
" guilt, and defilement ? If Thou, Lord, must
" come, be first our Physician, and heal our souls
" of their infirmities. Speak the word, and the
" thing shall be done. Who shall presume to
" present himself at Thy table ? Shall we dare
"to receive Thee after having defiled the white
" robes of innocence with which we were clothed
"in baptism? Shall we present ourselves at
" Thy feast without the nuptial garment of inno-
" cence ? Where are our tears, our repentance,
" our sorrow ? Shall we then give ourselves up
" to despair at the sight of our miseries ? Where
" shall we go to seek that support of which we
" stand so much in need ? We will rather hasten
298 EXPLANATION OF THE
"to comply with that tender invitation which wo
" have already heard from Thy divine lips :
" Come to Me all ye that labour and are heavily
" laden, and I will refresh you, and you shall find
" rest to your souls. Yes, Lord, we will go to
" Thee, for we know that if Thou sayest but one
"word, our souls will be instantly healed. A
" single word of Thine is sufficient to perform the
" greatest prodigies of love. Say but the word,
" and my soul shall be healed.
THE COMMUNION OF THE PRIEST.
"I will take the chalice of salvation, and will call
" upon the name of the Lord/ -Psalm cxv.
To the triple confession of his unworthiness,
the priest adds this short prayer: "May the
"Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my
" soul unto everlasting life. Amen." Then, mak
ing with the Sacred Host the sign of the cross,
he immediately receives it into his breast. Un
covering afterwards the chalice, he kneels to adore
the Sacred Blood also. Rising up, he says : " What
" return shall I make to the Lord for all He has
^ given me ? I will ca n upon the Lord in pmige>
and I shall be free from my enemies." Then,
taking the chalice into his hands, and making
with it the sign of the cross, as he previously did
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 299
with the Host, lie says : " May the Blood of our
" Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul unto ever-
" lasting life," and immediately receives it.
He then distributes the Blessed Sacrament to
the laity, if there be any prepared to receive it.
And thus are finished all the essential parts of
the Sacrifice. The Victim has disappeared from
the altar ; the Sacrifice is accomplished. The
wine and water which are subsequently poured
into the chalice are merely for the purpose of
consuming any remains of the sacramental spe
cies that might remain in the chalice, and are
therefore called purifications.
It is worthy of observation that all the prayers,
from the Agnus Dei, inclusively to the Post Com
munion, are addressed to Jesus Christ, because
all those prayers relate directly to the act of Holy
Communion.
COMMUNION OF THE FAITHFUL NO ESSENTIAL PART
OF THE SACRIFICE.
We have seen above that the communion of
the priest is an essential part of the august Sacri
fice of our altars ; it is, of all the parts thereof,
the most interesting, since it is thereby that the
fruits of the Sacrifice are communicated to our
souls. But we are not to conclude that the parti
cipation of the Victim by the faithful, who encom-
300 EXPLANATION OF THE
pass the altar, is of equal necessity in order to the
existence of the Sacrifice; for the actual practice
of the Church detracts from this necessity. The
communion of the faithful is indeed an integral
part of the Sacrifice, but not an essential one.
The Sacrifice, though deficient in one of its
integral parts, still exists without it.
THE COMMUNION OF THE FAITHFUL A DIVINE
PRECEPT.
Our Saviour says : " Except you eat the flesh
" of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you
" shall not have life in you. He that eateth My
" Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting
"life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.
" For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is
" drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh and
" drinketh My Blood, ahideth in Me, and I in
" him. As the Living Father hath sent Me, and
" I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, the
" same shall live by Me." (St. John vi. 54, &c.)
The Church, in the Fourth Council of Lateran,
declared the divine precept of receiving the Holy
Communion to be obligatory on all persons that
are come to the age of reason, at least once in the
year; and it has fixed the time for receiving it
about Easter, in memory of the great Paschal
solemnity.
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 301
The Council of Trent, while wishing to revive
frequent Communion, which had fallen into dis
use among the laity, does not indeed prescribe it,
but entreats the faithful to be moved by the con
sideration that it is the most holy action they can
perform ; it being a preservative against mortal
sin, a remedy for venial sin, and the seed of im
mortality, preserving souls to life eternal. It is
the desire of the Council that, as in former times,
so now, a priest may never have occasion to offer
up the Holy Sacrifice without having at least
some of his flock prepared to join with him in
Holy Communion.
DAILY COMMUNION IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.
In the primitive Church, until the sixth cen
tury, all present at the Holy Sacrifice received the
Holy Communion ; there was then, for receiving
it, no difference between days more or less solemn.
Every day that beheld the first Christian in the
place of worship, was to him in that respect an
important festival ; for all were then thoroughly
instructed in their religion; they were sensible
of the benefits of Holy Communion and appreciated
its excellence. Their faith was vigorous and lively;
they were full of the fear of God, and anxious to
observe His commandments ; their fervour was
glowing and their charity ardent ; they had a
302 EXPLANATION OF THE
hunger and thirst after justice, and a strong
desire of the salvation of their souls. How lovely
were then thy tabernacles, Jacoh, and thy tents,
Israel ! May my soul die the death of the just,
and may my end be like unto theirs ! (Numbers
xxiv.)
As the communion of a whole congregation took
up a considerable time, appropriate psalms or
canticles were sung in the interval. The ban
quets of kings and of the great ones of the earth
are always accompanied with singing and music ;
in like manner, the Christian temples resounded
with melodious accents during this sacred feast,
to which God, as the Host, the Food, and the
Guest, invited His children ; and while the sacred
edifices resounded with canticles of divine praise,
the angels who were present repeated on their
golden harps the goodness of God and the happi
ness of man.
In the Eastern churches, it was the forty-first
Psalm that was ordinarily sung. " As the hart
"panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul
" panteth after Thee, my God ! My soul hath
" thirsted after the strong and living God. When
" shall [ come and appear before the face of my
My tears have been my bread day and
night, whilst it was said to me, Where is thy
" God? With me is prayer to Thee the God of
" my heart, I will say to my God, Thou art my
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 303
" support. Hope thou in God, for I will give
" praise to Him, the salvation of my countenance
" and my God."
In the Western churches, it was the thirty- third
Psalm that was sung on the same occasion.
" I will hless the Lord at all times ; His praise
" shall be ever in my mouth. magnify the
" Lord with me, and let us extol His name
"together. Come ye to Him and be enlightened.
" The angel of the Lord shall encamp round
" about those that fear Him, and shall deliver
" them. taste and see that the Lord is sweet ;
"blessed is the man that hopeth in Him. Fear
" the Lord all ye saints ; for there is no want to
" them that fear Him. Turn away from evil, and
" do good ; seek after peace and pursue it."
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.
" My words are spirit and life." St. John vi. 04.
If the greater number cannot be persuaded to
partake of the daily Victim, let them not turn
away altogether empty from the sacred table.
They may still derive an immense advantage,
although they do not actually partake of it. This
is done by spiritual communion.
Spiritual communion consists in an ardent
desire to be spiritually united to Jesus Christ,
30 i EXPLANATION OF THE
since circumstances prevent for awhile a real
union. It includes a desire of sacramental com
munion. The following is a specimen of spiritual
communion. " My Jesus, I believe Thou art
" present in the most holy Sacrament. I love
" Thee above all things ; I desire to receive Thee
" into my soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee
" sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my
" heart. I embrace Thee, and unite myself en-
" tirely to Thee, as if I had actually received
" Thee. Never permit rne to be separated from
" Thee."
No one can be said to have assisted at Mass,
according to the spirit of the Church, unless he
has united himself, by at least a spiritual com
munion, to the adorable Victim offered up on our
altars.
The Council of Trent extols the advantages of
spiritual communion, and exhorts the faithful to
avail themselves of it. This Council distinguishes
three kinds of communion, a solely sacramental
one, one that is both sacramental and spiritual,
and one that is spiritual only. " Those," says the
Council, " communicate spiritually, wiio with a
" lively faith, which worketh by charity, desire to
"partake of the holy Communion; such derive
" great benefits therefrom."
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 305
DISPOSITIONS FOE A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.
As one would derive no benefit from receiving
Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin, so no
benefit can be derived from a spiritual communion
as long as one s affections are fixed on sin. To wish
to be united to the God of all purity while in that
state, would be to provoke His indignation. In
order to a worthy spiritual communion, all causes
of enmity between God and the sinner must be
first removed. This is done by a sincere repent
ance and a resolution of expelling from one s soul
all sinful affections, which render it an unfit
abode for Jesus Christ. Hence, sinners, who
will not take the pains to obtain contrition for
their sins, and to correct their vices, cannot be
united to Jesus Christ, even by a spiritual com
munion. Our Blessed Saviour indeed invites all
who are heavily laden to come to Him, but no one
can derive a benefit from approaching Him who
does not first seek to be eased of his burden.
Still, the absence of sin or of vice is but a nega
tive disposition for spiritual communion. The
soul that aspires to an union with its Saviour
must be adorned with virtues ; hence, acts of
several virtues must be made at this part of the
Mass, namely :
20
306 EXPLANATION OF THE
1. An act of faitli in the real presence of Jesus
Christ in the Eucharist. We must believe the
positive declaration of God in preference to the
remonstrances of our own weak and blind reason.
2. Of hope, founded on the promises which
Jesus Christ has annexed to a worthy participa
tion of Himself.
3. An act of desire to be united to the source of
every blessing.
4. An act of humility; for God, who rejects
the proud, always looks with complacency on the
humble.
Spiritual communion greatly nourishes piety,
keeps alive the flame of virtue, imparts sanctity to
every affection, and increases the gifts of grace,
by habituating our souls to a continual union with
God at present, and by preparing them for an
eternal union with Him in heaven.
THANKSGIVING* AFTER COMMUNION.
Give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying always."-Col. i. 3.
The remaining portion of the Liturgy is set
apart by the Church as a marked and promi
nent testimony of our gratitude to God, through
Jesus Christ, for the inestimable mystery just
operated on our altars, and for the multitude
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 307
of graces thereby poured out, upon His iclwle
Church. Gratitude is a duty strongly enjoined
by religion ; for our Saviour condemned the con
duct of those who, after having been miraculously
healed by Himself of leprosy, did not return to
give Him thanks. " Were there not," said He,
" ten made clean ? And where are the nine ?
" There is no one found to return to give glory to
{< God but this stranger." But in the Mass God
imparts to us the greatest of favours, and the
Church is most punctual in returning Him due
thanks for them.
She has invariably done so in all ages ; hence
St. Augustine says : " Having partaken of the
" great sacrament, the service concludes with the
" solemn thanksgiving." May our gratitude to
God equal that of our forefathers in the faith,
gratitude being a no less essential disposition to
secure the fruits of the Eucharist than those
above pointed out. Hence the last prayers of the
Liturgy have an equal claim to our attention and
fervour.
308 EXPLANATION OF THE
THE ANTHEM CALLED THE COMMUNION.
Since the decline of the primitive fervour of
Christians, and the consequent diminution of the
number of communicants, instead of a whole psalm
being chanted at this time, as was then usual, a
single verse is read by the priest at the epistle
corner of the altar. At first it never varied, and
was, " Taste and sec that the Lord is sweet."
The present practice of the Church is, to select
from some psalm a single verse which is at once
applicable to the mystery of the day, and to the
particular graces imparted to those who communi
cate worthily. These verses always contain the
strongest motives to excite us to a constant union
with Jesus Christ in the sacrament of His Body
and Bl xxl.
The above anthem is followed by the ordinary
salutation from the middle of the altar, of Domi-
nus robiseum, which has here a particular signifi
cation, as if he said : You have now gone
through, with me, the different parts of the
Mass ; you have partaken of the Victim which I
have been offering, either in reality or in spirit :
I therefore wish that the Lord may always remain
with you, and take up His abode in your souls
by a permanent residence, according to His pro-
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 309
mise, " He that eats My Flesh and drinks My
" Blood, ahideth in Me and I in Him/
THE POST COMMUNION.
This prayer, which is read at the Epistle corner,
is properly a prayer of thanksgiving. Every
collect, whether of the season or occasional, has
its proper Secret and Post Communion, it being
proper that the number of thanksgivings be equal
to that of the petitions. As the Post Commu
nions correspond in number with the Collects, so
they likewise do in subject, form, and ceremonies.
The Collect asks for general blessings, without
any special reference to the Sacrifice. The Secret
adverts to the Sacrifice about to be offered up ;
and the Post Communion alludes to the fruits
which the Communion should produce in our
souls. The object of the Post Communion is to
ratify the good effects which faith authorises us to
expect from a worthy Communion, and, therefore,
it always contains mention of the Blessed Sacra
ment.
After the Post Communion, the priest and
people salute each other for the last time, with
the usual benediction, Dominus Vobiscum, which
here means, May the Lord be with you to en
lighten you, protect you, console you, and pre
serve in your souls the fruits of the Holy Sacrifice
310 EXPLANATION OF THE
at which you have just assisted, and may you
always be mindful of what you have this day
beheld and done.
The people, full of gratitude to the priest who
has just offered up for them the great Sacrifice,
answer, And with thy spirit that is, we wish
you the same blessings and graces which you wish
us.
ITE, MISSA EST DEPART, THE DIVINE SERVICE IS
NOW OVER.
Docile to the voice of their pastors, the faithful,
in assembling in the holy place, had listened to
the suggestions of their fervour only. But it has
always been found necessary to give them the
signal to withdraw, they being aware that what
ever appertained to this holy exercise, partook of
the sanctity of that Victim from whose saving
merits all the foregoing prayers and ceremonies
have derived the whole of their efficacy.
The congregation, through the clerk, answer:
Thanks be to God! Yes, eternal, infinite thanks
are due to God every time He confers on us the
happiness of assisting at this most wholesome
sacrifice! Thanks be to God for having left us
this Victim ! Thanks be to God for the oppor
tunity afforded us of assisting at the immolation
thereof, of which blessing, so many others, more
deserving than ourselves, are deprived.
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 311
PLACEAT OBSEQUIUM, &C.
The priest now turns to the altar, and, reflect
ing on the great action he has just presumed
to perform, bows down his head, and repeats, in
the spirit of humility, this last prayer of the
Mass, which is extremely suitable to the occasion :
" May the obedience of my service be pleasing to
11 Thee, Blessed Trinity; and may the sacrifice
" which I, though unworthy, have offered in the
" sight of Thy divine majesty, be acceptable to
" Thee, and, through Thy mercy, be a propitia-
" tion for me, and for all those for whom I have
" offered it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. *
As if he said : The service I have been perform
ing is so great that I never should have presumed
to perform it, had it not been in obedience to
the command of my Saviour, who has chosen so
unworthy a creature as myself to perform so great
a service. May His goodness supersede my un-
worthiness, and grant a blessing to me, and to all
for whom the sacrifice has been offered.
312 EXPLANATION OF THE
LAST BLESSING.
"And Aaron, stretching forth his hand towards the
" people, blessed them, and the sacrifices being finished,
" he came down." Levit. ix. 22.
One of the powers which a priest receives at
his ordination is that of blessing both persons
and things. In this, as in all his other public
functions, he is but the instrument, the channel,
through which the blessings of the Almighty
flow, the representative of Christ. In imparting
the benediction, which he is about to pro
nounce, he represents, in his person, the whole
Church, of which he is a minister; it is in her
name, and in the name of Christ, that he pro
nounces the words of grace and benediction, wiiich
he draws from the fountains of our Saviour. He
first kisses the altar, which represents Jesus
Christ, the Author of all graces ; then, lifting up
his hands towards heaven, whence all graces are
derived, and turning towards the people, he
makes over them the sign of the cross, which
invariably accompanies every benediction, it being
from the cross of Christ that every grace is
derived. He invokes the Almighty, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, saying, in effect :
" May God the Father bless you, ivho in Jesus
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 313
" Christ lias Uessed us with all spiritual bless-
" ings, that WQ may become His spiritual children,
"for the praise and glory of His grace."
"May God the Son lless you, in ivhom the
" Father has made us agreeable in His sight,
" and wlw has redeemed us with His Blood,
"granting us the remission of our sins, and in
" ivhom all things, in heaven and on earth, are
" united, as in their head and chief.
" May God the Holy Ghost lless you, Who
" is the spirit of ivisdom and of revelation, by
" ivhom ice know God, and the seal by u hich ive
" have been sealed to believe in Jesus Christ."
Can we doubt the efficacy of this blessing, if,
by onr own indevotion and obstinacy in sin, we
do not counteract its salutary effects ? Let me
address you in the words of the Pontifical : " Bow
" down your heads to receive this benediction ; it
" is the blessing of Him, at whose word all
"things started into existence. His name is
" the only source, whence all blessings and graces
" flow. Humble yourselves under His mighty
" hand, since He imparts His graces to none but
" the humble, to those who place no dependance
" on themselves, but expect all things at His
" hand. May the Almighty God, who exerts
" His power only to manifest His mercy, bless
" this people, whom He has created for His glory,
" ransomed by His Blood, and sanctified by His
314 EXPLANATION OF THE
" Spirit. The faithful should, with all the sin-
ferity of their hearts, answer Amen to this last
" blessing of the Mass; and let it be an Amen
" never to be contradicted by their actions, never
"to be belied by their infidelities, which dry
"up the bounteous source of benedictions and
"graces."
THE LAST GOSPEL.
" This is the disciple who wrote these things, and we
" know that his testimony is true." St. John xxi. 24.
The faithful have, in all ages, had a particular
respect for the Gospel of St. John, as the most
sublime of all the Gospels, and especially for this
introductory chapter, which is one of the loftiest
passages of all the inspired writings, and contains
an excellent profession of faith in the divinity
and humanity of Jesus Christ. A heathen philo
sopher was so struck with admiration at this
Gospel, that he declared it ought to be written in
golden letters on the most prominent part of
every church. The Church commands it to be
daily read, that it may be engraven on the hearts
of the faithful, and be more present to our inmost
thoughts than the most brilliant letters could
represent it to our eyes.
This Gospel is read with the same ceremonies
as the Gospel at the commencement of the Mass.
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 315
At the words, "And the Word was made Flesh"
all kneel down to adore Him who condescended to
become man for our sakes, and to conceal His
glory under the vile form of a slave.
This Gospel is an abridgment of all that the
Son of God has done for us in both time and
eternity. St. John, before declaring to us the
Incarnation of the Word, makes a fall declaration
of His Divinity, that we may have an idea of
His humility in descending so low from such a
height.
It shows Him in the bosom of His Eternal
Father, God, equal to Him, and tells us that by
Him all things were made, and He is the life and
the light of the world.
It shows Him descended upon earth, the true
Sun of Justice, that shone in the darkness of
this world, and enlightened those that sat in the
shadow of death. It reminds us that it was by
Him that we were made the children of God; for
He took upon Him our nature, and dwelt
amongst us, to redeem us from the slavery of sin
and to deliver us from eternal damnation.
We beheld His glory in the manger, on
Mounts Thabor and Calvary, and at His tomb ;
we daily behold it in the Holy Eucharist ; and we
praise and bless Him because He is full of grace
and truth.
The Word made Flesh has proved to us, in
316 EXPLANATION OF THE
prayer, a powerful intercessor ; in the Oblation, a
Victim of salvation ; and in the Communion, the"
Bread of Life. May He prove to us, amidst the
various occupations of life, a model, a pastor, and
a guide; that, as He dwells amongst us by His
presence in the Eucharist, so we may merit, by
His grace, to dwell with Him for all eternity.
The assembled multitude, by the mouth of the
clerk, answer, Deo gratias Thanks be to God.
So short, so holy, so perfect, so worthy of God are
these few words, that it would be impossible to
terminate the greatest of all mysteries in a more
becoming manner.
" What," says St. Augustine, " can we think,
" say, or write, better than those words, Thanks
" be to God ? We cannot say anything shorter,
" more agreeable, more noble, more useful, more
" beneficial."
Yes, thanks be to God ! for heaven and earth
are now reconciled ; the august Victim, expected
during four thousand years, has this moment been
immolated. It has been received by God as a
Sacrifice and by men as a Sacrament. Thanks
be to God the Father, who has given us His Son.
Thanks to God the Son, who has taken upon
Him our nature. Thanks to God the Holy
Ghost, who has sanctified us in Jesus Christ.
Thanks to the august Trinity, for all its gifts and
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 317
mercies, of which this Catholic Sacrifice is the
abridgment.
We should leave the house of God as our pre
decessors in the faith used to do ; an impression
of holiness should, during the whole day, reign in
our thoughts, words, desires, and actions. Let
us remember that heaven, earth, and hell have
their eyes fixed upon us ; heaven, to rejoice at our
having assisted at the great Sacrifice ; earth, to
be edified at our demeanour ; and hell, to deprive
us of the fruits of the Sacrifice. Let us not
rejoice hell ; let us not grieve heaven ; let us not
cause the Christian name to be blasphemed among
men. Let us spend the day as if we had that
morning witnessed the Sacrifice of Calvary. Let
us leave the house of God as if we were descend
ing from that Mount. Let us not, like the Jews,
become more blind and more hardened after this
spectacle. Let us rather, like the centurion, pub
lish and proclaim the glory of the Son of God.
Let us, like the multitude, after having witnessed
what has taken place, return, striking our breasts.
318 EXPLANATION OF THE
SUMMARY OR RESUME
OF THE ABOVE TREATISE.
The Mass is an adorable, awful Sacrifice, replete
with the Divinity.
I. Christ came down from heaven and took
upon Him our nature, to make us partakers of
His Divinity, and carry us up to heaven.
II. He offered Himself up a Sacrifice on the
Cross, to deliver us from sin and hell ; and to
purchase for us mercy, grace, and salvation.
III. In order to communicate to all future
generations of mankind the merits and fruits of
the Sacrifice of the Cross, He instituted the Sacri
fice of the Mass, which is a continuation of the
Sacrifice of the Cross, nay, the same Sacrifice and
a real representation and commemoration thereof.
IV. The two great objects of the Mass, the
two great ends for which it w r as instituted, are,
1. To communicate to all future generations
of mankind to the end of time, the benefits,
fruits, and merits of the Sacrifice of the Cross ;
LITURGY OF THE MASS. 319
and 2. To enable them to render to God, in a
manner worthy of Him, the .four great duties
that we owe to Him, of adoration, thanksgiving,
atonement, and impetration.
V. Jesus Christ is, in the Mass, the principal
High Priest and invisible worker, to whose com
mand everything is obedient, while the visible
priest is but His minister, acting in His Name
and Person, and by His authority.
VI. During the Mass, we should always bear in
mind that it is a God who is the chief Priest of
this Sacrifice, a God who is the Victim, and a God
to whom it is offered up.
VII. From the consecration to the end of the
communion, we should endeavour to entertain a
lively faith of the Divine Presence on our altars,
together with a religious dread, fear, and awe
thereof, and a deep sense of our own unworthiness.
VIII. Our outward bearing, especially during
the above part of the service, should be such as to
convince all present, of our conviction and sense
of the Divine Presence on our altars.
IX. The Eucharist, as a sacrament, is the
remedy of all our evils, the most powerful medi
cine for all our diseases, the sovereign antidote
320 EXPLANATION OF THE LITURGY OF THE MASS.
against the poison of the infernal serpent, the
comfort of our banishment, the support of our
pilgrimage, the price of our ransom, the earnest
of our eternal salvation.
THE END.
PRINTED BY RICHARDSON A\D SOX, DERBY,
